“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.” — Robin Sharma

You know the one? The itch beneath your skin, the nagging voice at the back of your head: This is not it anymore. There is something wrong. There is something missing. The job, the routine, the relationships, the self you show up as—none of it fits anymore like a well-tailored jacket.

That is not discontent. That is the start of transformation.

The actual challenge of life is not change. It is hanging onto sameness when the season changes. It is embracing comfort instead of courage, homeostasis over evolution. Growth doesn’t knock on your door. It rattles the windows and insists on being invited in.

The Illusion of Security through Similiarity
A popular Indian parable captures it so well. Imagine a young elephant tied with a mere string around a pole. When it was still a calf, the string could manage it. But as it grew, it never attempted to escape—thinking that the same old string still had control over it. And that is how most of us live: tied by outmoded belief systems and self-restrictions, never sensing that we could break out of them long ago.

Being the same is comfortable, perhaps, but it isn’t. To quote author William Pollard, “Without change, there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable.”

The world is evolving—whether or not you are. Avoiding change doesn’t make you secure, it makes you stay the same.

The Discomfort Tax of Growth
Change isn’t something that occurs atop a mountain. Change is something that occurs within the trenches. It manifests itself during the early morning hours where nobody is looking. Late nights where your fears yell out much louder than your aspirations.

There’s a deep lesson in Indian epic Mahabharata where Arjuna is reluctant to engage in combat within the battlefield of Kurukshetra. He is caught between his duty and his heart. Lord Krishna doesn’t offer him solace. What he offers is a reminder of his dharma—his higher calling. Self-growth starts the moment one picks his purpose instead of his preferences.

Change is easy to speak about. Everybody does. But action on change is only a slogan unless you follow through. Most fail not because they do not desire change, but because change requires sacrifice.

  • Sacrifice of comfort.
  • Surrender of know-how.
  • Sacrificing who you are for who you can be.

When It Is Easy To Quit—Don’t
A story out of the life of APJ Abdul Kalam, India’s Missile Man and former President, teaches one the value of resilience. Early in his working days, Kalam couldn’t get his dream job in the Indian Air Force. Disheartened, he stood on a Rishikesh cliff, doubting everything. But he never lost heart. He got back on track. Changed direction. And transformed into a force driving India’s defense and space programs.

“Man requires his challenges because they are needed for him to enjoy success.” — A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Change can begin with rejection, but growth is how you react to it.

Commit Beyond Motivation
Motivation is a spark. Commitment is the firewood that sustains the flame even as the wind howls.

You will not always be inspired. You will not always be confident. And that is alright.

James Clear, the best-selling author of Atomic Habits, says: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Growth is a system. One small step repeated over and over until it becomes momentum.

Ask yourself: Are you more dedicated to your calling, or your comfort?

The Bridge of Becoming
There is a bridge between where you are now and where you’re supposed to go. Between the reality you have created for yourself and the one that is calling out to you.

But the truth is, you can’t take everything with you over that bridge. You have to let go of your doubts, your former self, your excuses, your fear of being judged. Only then can the bridge support you.

The great mystic Sadhguru explains it succinctly: “Only when you’re ready to step into the unknown, does growth occur.”

This bridge isn’t constructed overnight. It is built with effort, with doubt, with faith, with consistency. Each board placed by a decision to show up—over and over.

Real-Life Scenario: The Entrepreneur’s Jump
Take the case of Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder. In 1981, he quit a secure job, joined six friends, and began Infosys, wherein he used ₹10,000 borrowed from his wife as capital. No safety nets, no guarantees—only a vision. In the ensuing decades, Infosys grew into a world IT behemoth. It is not change that is challenging—it is enduring the change through hardships, uncertainty, and near-failures that counts.

“Change is impossible without progress, and anyone who is unable to change his mind is unable to change anything.” — George Bernard Shaw

Final Thought: Don’t Simply Change—Evolve
Change is step one. Growth is all the steps that follow. It is not reinvention overnight. It is a commitment made day by day, one thought, one choice, one habit. You know it already, it is time. That part of you is finished. That version of you served its function.

The waiting is done.

Cross it.

Dr. Prahlada N.B
MBBS (JJMMC), MS (PGIMER, Chandigarh). 
MBA in Healthcare & Hospital Management (BITS, Pilani), 
Postgraduate Certificate in Technology Leadership and Innovation (MIT, USA)
Executive Programme in Strategic Management (IIM, Lucknow)
Senior Management Programme in Healthcare Management (IIM, Kozhikode)
Advanced Certificate in AI for Digital Health and Imaging Program (IISc, Bengaluru). 

Senior Professor and former Head, 
Department of ENT-Head & Neck Surgery, Skull Base Surgery, Cochlear Implant Surgery. 
Basaveshwara Medical College & Hospital, Chitradurga, Karnataka, India. 

My Vision: I don’t want to be a genius.  I want to be a person with a bundle of experience. 

My Mission: Help others achieve their life’s objectives in my presence or absence!

My Values:  Creating value for others. 

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