The Power of Change

If you want to focus on change, look at your children. One day, I took my daughter, who was then 8 years old, out to lunch. As we talked, I couldn't help thinking about going to restaurants with her when she was so small she needed my help for everything. She's changing so fast.

Watching her, I was both happy and sad at the same time. Of course, I love to watch her mature and to be able to have "grown-up" conversations with her. At the same time, I wish I could stop time so that she would stay small enough to always need my help.

What my father-daughter luncheon made me realize is that because things change, we need to get the most out of every moment. When life is good, squeeze it like a sponge to get every drop out of it. Take a mental snapshot of the good times. Then when times are bad, replay that good picture in your mind and know that just as the good times changed to the bad, so the bad will change and good times will come around again.

My hobby is to try and understand how life works and how we can apply its lessons to human potential. One of the most important lessons I've learned is that there is no organism on this planet that can survive without change. From the smallest single-celled ameba to the complex human body, we must always be moving and changing. If there's anything in life we can depend on, it's change.

Change is difficult for many people. But really, it's what makes life exciting—constantly learning, changing our minds, habits, environment, and the people with whom we surround ourselves. It's mixing things up, looking for a better recipe and the best ingredients to make the best cake, and not settling for the same old thing.

The goal of change is not just to make something different, it's to make something better and more efficient. It's easy to do the things you've always done, and to do them the way you've always done them. It's a lot harder—but a lot more rewarding—to be proactive and constantly looking for ways to improve.

The secret of change is to focus on the opportunities, of a new path, not on the comfort of a worn trail.

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.

—John F. Kennedy,
U.S. president