Read the book “Who moved my cheese?” and found that there are something we can learn from the book about how to cope with change.

What is our Cheese?

In the book, “Cheese” is a defined as a metaphor for what we want in life – whether it is a good job, relationship, money, promotion, house, freedom, health, recognition, or spiritual peace of mind. Each of us has our own ideas of what our cheese is, and we pursue it because we believe it will make us happy. However, the sad thing is that if we get it, we often become attached to it. And if we lose it, or when it is taken away from us, it can be traumatic.

What can we learn from the story?

(a) When the situation changed and our cheese has been moved, we will have to change and move with the cheese.

(b) We could use the mistakes we made in the past to plan for the future.

(c) Be aware of the needs to keep things simple, be flexible and move quickly. When facing change, complex brains and human emotions do complicate things. Do simple things that work when things change.

(d) There is no need to over-complicate things or confuse ourselves with fearful beliefs. Our new beliefs will encourage our new behaviours. When we change what we believe, we will change what we do.

(e) We should make preparation for the big changes when we realised little things began to change. When we see how changes can make things better, we will get more interested in making the change happen.

(f) We need to adapt fast and if we do not adopt in time, we might well not adopt at all.

(g) The biggest inhibitor to change lies within ourselves; nothing gets better until we change. Those who can’t change may have to pay a price for it.

(h) Don’t think that the old cheese is our only cheese. There is always new cheese out there whether we recognise it at the time or not.

(i) We resist changing because we are afraid of change, though sometimes we are not even aware that we are afraid. Some fears should be respected as it can keep us out of the real danger; fears do force us to take corrective actions. We will feel awarded when we past our fear and enjoy the adventure.

(j) Be open minded enough to learn something new, act differently and adapt in time to help us succeed. It’s better to initiate change than try to react and adjust to the change. Maybe we should change the ways we do things.

(k) Although people are trying to copy with the unexpected changes, many do not know a good way to handle change. The fastest way to change is to laugh at our own folly, then we can let go and quickly move on.

Source : “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson. Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.