The art of letting go
Featured in the Using Emotional Intelligence at Work training manual
By Mike Bagshaw
Category: Emotional Intelligence
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
The status quo, by definition, is the accepted way of doing things. It’s the path of least resistance, and for that reason it can be attractive. But the status quo has to change, and keep changing, or we’d still be living in caves. Each change has brought with it some resistance. You have to let go of the old to let in the new. Change brings loss. Even good change means something has gone. It may be easy or hard to let that go, but it should be acknowledged. People sometimes get stuck in the past because there is something they can’t put behind them. They can’t accept the loss, so they can’t move forward. This training activity is designed to help people leave their old comfort zones and try out the new. It may be scary, but it’s also exciting.
The training activity starts with a brief discussion of a joke that carries some profound messages about personal change. There follows a discussion of risk taking, which is reinforced by small-group discussions on the risks the participants have taken in their own lives. This is then linked to the concept of comfort zones and the experience of loss. Finally, the participants do an exercise to look at the motivational balance between the fears of change and the benefits of the status quo (comfort zone) and the risks of the status quo and the benefits of change (the risk zone).
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to enable participants to tackle the essence of coping effectively with change and letting go of old ways of thinking and doing. Challenging existing concepts enables participants to understand their own resistance to change.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:00:00 |
| No of Pages: | 16 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers as part of any programme of change or personal development.
Download the training activity, The art of letting go as featured in the Fenman training manual; Using Emotional Intelligence at Work