Albert Einstein said, "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." I love that quote because it points out the potential of a word most people find scary and that word is change.

When faced with the need to change, this is what a lot of us think at first. I don't want to. Why should I? Can't other people take care of the need to change for me'?

Change takes us outside of our comfort zone, but refusing change is like asking the sun not to rise. The sun will rise with or without our permission. It is the same with change. And if the effects we've been receiving are not what we want, change is the only way to generate a different outcome.

What end results do you dream of achieving? Are those results happening in your personal and work life?

It's a matter of cause and effect. Your actions are the cause that creates the end results. If you want a particular effect and that effect has been alluding you, there is only one way to achieve a different outcome and that is to embrace change.

Although this is a simple idea, it's not easy to achieve. That's because we complicate matters by avoiding change. So the next time you ask for a different outcome, don't look to other people. Stop. Take a breath. Then ask yourself how you could change.

This goes for things that other people do too. If someone is doing something you do not like, look first within. Consider what you've been doing, thinking and saying. Before you shift the blame onto others, look at yourself. That may be all that it takes to shift the outcome to achieve the end results you desire.

As author and business leader Max De Pree once said, "In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are."

If you want to continue to improve, you must not only embrace change, but also become its champion.

Action Steps:

Here's how to embrace change:
1. Decide what you want to change.
2. Commit to your own personal growth.
3. Set goals and fix aspects of your life that aren't working.
4. Surround yourself with positive people.

The best is yet to come. It starts with you.

Your friends,
The UpCloseTeam