Does anything ever really stay the same? Over time landscapes change, rivers subtly change, business models change, governments change, and relationships change. Your hair changes! None of these are bad things, they are just different.
Changing times require that we do things differently. Staying the same is not an option! Well, maybe it is an option. Doing nothing is an option, just not one I want to choose. Fashions are renewed annually, technology gets replaced and most foods have a "used by" or fresh date.

Just look at our technology. I'm sure that everyone reading this article has been touched by technology in some way over the past decade. Either through email, internet or a cellular device, technology has touched most at home or work. Through the use of the personal computer we are able to connect to more information than ever before. Computers run on an operating system. This operating system acts as a host for all its applications like games, spreadsheet, and word processing programs. Just like computers we have an operating system within each of us. It's who we believe we are as a person and is created by our beliefs and experiences. Our internal operating system acts as a host for all the "applications" in our lives: family, friends, marriage, work, and children. Computer operating systems are constantly being upgraded or patched to deal with the increased computing needs. Our personal operating system controls our image and how we interact with others. Again, it is totally created by us and can be changed or upgraded by us.

A few years back, when my kids weren't in their teens yet, I purchased a video game for one of my sons for his birthday. When he attempted to install this game he found out that he needed a higher version of the operating system among other upgrades. Without this new version, the game would not run properly or at all. We had a decision to make. Do we upgrade or take back the new game? We face decisions like this in our lives every day. Do we make changes to accept something new in our lives or do we reject it because it would cause us to change who we think we are? Sometimes we take on new things without changing. That's like ignoring the minimum system requirements on the new software box. You can run that new software on your old system, but the results won't be ideal. What new things are you bringing into your life that you are running with the old operating system? How is this old view of yourself holding you back?

If you want to be viewed differently at work, change a relationship, have children or enhance your life, you are going to have to upgrade your operating system. This means that you are going to have to...