How to Embrace Change in Your Life

05/16/19 • 35 min

As parents, seeing Alexa grow and develop so quickly, like others Alex and Mimi have seen the true magnitude of change. But to some people, change isn’t always welcomed so easily, some people fear change. Change can be a huge deal. This is the topic of today’s episode.

For the most part we don’t remember our early lives, but it’s in those moments seeing a baby grow into a child and develop a character and soul of their own, that you can truly appreciate how change is happening. Much faster than you could ever imagine.

“A lot of people leave comments on our videos, saying please don’t change... like that’s a bad thing” - Mimi Ikonn [4:00]

In meeting with an old friend Mimi asked ‘so what’s new’? She was shocked at the reply she was given ‘oh, nothing new’. Maybe for some of us we aren’t mindful that change is happening all the time, whether we perceive it or not, But things change, ALL THE TIME.

Change can be a good thing, but a lot of us naturally fear it. When we know change is coming it’s like being confronted with the flip of a coin. Will it land on the good side or the bad? So many chose to not flip the coin, avoid it as much as possible, staying right where they are. Safe and sound. In their comfort bubble.

“Paint a picture of where you’re going and know your journey, give yourself a roadmap to your goals” - Alex Ikonn [16:35]

Again it’s about reframing. Change could be giving yourself a chance at a new career and finding a new passion. Others might say ‘I got fired and lost my job’. Which in Alex’s case, is true, this actually happened. Proof of the importance of embracing change. He was so happy to be working in banking and would have probably stayed there forever had he not been fired. Lucky that wasn’t to be and life forced his hand and he got to choose a better life.

Understandably there are evolutionary reasons and our trible nature at play here, that we need to be aware of. Also the story we tell ourselves keeps us firmly rooted to the spot. Think about how many times you’ve said out loud ‘oh, i just don’t do that’ or ‘oh that is not me’? While often having never tried.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate . Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us” - Marianne Williamson.

The process of transformation and trying something new is DIFFICULT, unfortunately it’s a challenge that a lot of people aren’t willing to work through by choice. After returning from their first trip to france, Mimi realised this. She set about completely renovating their home. Days and weeks of living in the mess reflected her own internal struggles at the time with mental health issues she was going through. renovating wasn’t going to be easily fixed in 1 day. Fortunately hard work and persistence paid off and the apartment looked as beautiful as she’d imagined. Eventually all the internal mentality hard work also paid off too. Remember not all change happens quickly and is usually a work in progress.

Here’s what we talk about today:

From getting your heart broken to losing your job, there’s always a brighter side.
Embrace change, use it to your advantage
The only way to enjoy life is to not fear the change that is always happening
Change at the speed of light, like Moores law, everything is getting quicker
Be perceptive and mindful of what changes are happening around you
People’s capacity to grow and adapt is one of life’s remarkable wonders
Getting to the good is often through a VERY MESSY journey
How to stop creating comfortable habits of staying the same
Journalling, creating your goals and a road map to them
Change leads to a better stronger you

Full show notes: https://www.ikonns.com/podcast/episode29

“A lot of people leave comments on our videos, saying please don’t change... like that’s a bad thing” - Mimi Ikonn [4:00]

“Paint a picture of where you’re going and know your journey, give yourself a roadmap to your goals” - Alex Ikonn [16:35]

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate . Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us” - Marianne Williamson.

Here’s what we talk about today:

From getting your heart broken to losing your job, there’s always a brighter side.
Embrace change, use it to your advantage
The only way to enjoy life is to not fear the change that is always happening
Change at the speed of light, like Moores law, everything is getting quicker
Be perceptive and mindful of what changes are happening around you
People’s capacity to grow and adapt is one of life’s remarkable wonders
Getting to the good is often through a VERY MESSY journey
How to stop creating comfortable habits of staying the same
Journalling, creating your goals and a road map to them
Change leads to a better stronger you

Full show notes: https://www.ikonns.com/podcast/episode29

Previous Episode

Your Relationship with Money

In today’s episode Alex and Mimi explore what many would say is the most important thing in life... MONEY!! But does having more of it make you happy or do we just need to create an abundance mindset? What’s your relationship with money, we’ll find out in this episode.

Both Alex and Mimi have come from very poor upbringings. Even though Mimi would describe her family growing up as middle class, the middle class Azerbaijan is way below the lower class in the US or Europe. Alex’s family life was very similar growing up in the Soviet Union, they both lived in 1 bedroom apartments where their parents would sleep on the sofa, while all the kids would share a bedroom. Bargain hunting and penny counting was the only way to simply put a meal on the table. This is a very deep episode that explores the mindset shift that you have to undertake if you want to go from not having any money to what to do when you finally get some. And every step in between. Foodbank’s to Kensington.

“Money wants to go to people who have a need to do something with it, people who put their money to work rather than consuming” - Alex Ikonn [37:30]

The main lesson Alex and Mimi want you to take away from this, is moving your mindset from one of scarcity to one of abundance. We all know of situations where people have lost friends or even family member from a dispute over a relatively small amount of cash. Clinging onto every penny won’t get you anywhere in life. Similarly, we know that when we feel full and our basic needs are met, our mental energy and focus is available to be put to work and attract more money and opportunities into our lives.

Now this doesn’t mean you should go out and max your credit cards, if you even have a credit card, nor should even contemplate a payday loan. Negative compound interest is your worst enemy and will hold you in debt for a long time. Remember that spending future money is still money you will have to earn at some point. If you can’t pay it back today, there’s a good chance you’ll find it difficult to pay it back tomorrow. The good thing is compound interest works the other way too. So paying off your debt and then saving can gain you some great interest over time.

“You affirm and reaffirm to yourself everyday what you manifest” - Mimi Ikonn [20:50]

Back to the abundance part... this really is a game of reframing the conversation you tell yourself. Are you regularly saying:

A - ‘I couldn’t ever do that, I can’t afford it’

Or are you saying

B - ‘I choose to invest my money elsewhere, spending to fulfill a specific purpose’.

Are you saying you are ‘broke’? This genuinely means you feel you are broken. Let’s be clear, we don’t believe you are broken! You should be saying ‘You are working on fixing your financial future by actionally taking steps in the right direction’.

Do you see and feel the difference in these two ways of talking to yourself? If so this is only the start.What we also cover in this episode:

How do your parents talk about money? This shapes your own financial values
Don’t believe you’re saving if at the same time you’re in debt
Valuing your own worth and developing the idea of feeling full
How to not lose relationships over money
When is it a good time to rent or buy, why it’s better to rent in a big city
How the richest people are less consumers than you think
Become an investor in yourself and reap the rewards
Visualisation and putting in the hard work
Being wealthy is living in your means and not spending more than you earn
Money and energy, it’s all about a transfer from one form to the other.

Full show notes: https://www.ikonns.com/podcast/episode28

Next Episode

Future of Education with Dr. Rhonda Lenton, President of York University

In today’s episode Alex and Mimi chat Dr. Rhonda Lenton President and Vice-Chancellor of York University. As the global work environment shifts to new technologies with bigger demands, our education also needs a reboot. Hear Rhonda’s thoughts on the future of formal education.Rhonda was a first generation student of her family, even though her parents never went to university, they made it a priority for her and her twin, to get a great education. She studied sociology which gave her a great grounding in how people think. And during the time of the second wave of feminism, she found momentum in activism, which compelled her interest in equality and social justice. This has been a thread throughout her entire career in academia. Firmly believing that every student should have a right to a good education, leading to work possibilities at the top regardless of gender, race or wealth.

“Resilience from an early age is a character i’d encourage parents to pay close attention to” - Rhonda [21:42]

The demands on students leaving college with a degree and entering the workplace, isn’t the simple path it once was. She should know, given that York is the 5th leading University in Canada and ranked 26th in the world on educational impact. Yet still she finds students struggling with the transition. This challenge is now her challenge.

“You can’t change uncertainty, all you can do is figure out a way to function in a world full of it”

Rhonda [20:50]

Rather than giving up, she’s yet again, battling for something she believes in. That formal education still has its place, it just needs to adapt like the world around it that is moving so quickly. She says that education needs to be more fluid, flexible and work with businesses and nonprofits to gear students and companies up for inevitable future change.

Few errors in life are things you can’t bounce back from” - Rhonda [23:20]

She’s working with giant companies like Shopify to create a new “flipped classroom” approach to learning. Giving students more vocational and work based learning opportunities, with tutors acting more like facilitators to overcome learning boundaries and resulting career difficulties. Less about boring lectures, It’s been her goal to find emerging needs in the job market and stay current when it comes to providing curriculum.

Come join Alex and Mimi’s university and learn these things in this episode:

The difficulties of studying and working part or full time. Why the 2 don’t no longer need to be conflicting.
Masculine and feminine energy in an high profile workplace, how should I behave at the top?
Strength vs vulnerability, even academia needs to be authentic
Overcome uncertainty by being agile
Do our parents solve too many problems for us, can we cope with the modern world ourselves?
Having a commitment for lifelong learning, education doesn’t finish at school
Cultivate creativity and enquiry in your education and mostly make it enjoyable
Stop trying to rush the process, study when you need to study, work when you need to work. It’s all learning in the end.
Environmental concerns and sustainability is becoming the biggest concern for students

Hope you enjoyed this week’s episode with Dr. Rhonda Lenton , you can find out more about her here:

Blank.com

Twitter

Linked in

Produced by Jason Sanderson - Podcast Tech

Full show notes: https://www.ikonns.com/podcast/episode30