When I was growing up I often heard the slogan that there were two things that were inevitable in life-death and taxes. I've added a third. It's change-and I don't mean the coins in your pocket.

Webster defines change as "something new." Some people are more open to new experiences than others. In China the symbol for change is crisis or opportunity. If your perspective sees change as a path of opportunity change may present opportunities for you to use or develop new coping stratgies. If you are focused on the here and now and prefer a perspective of life as it has always been, your initial response, that' a crisis is looming, will prevail until you gain the new skills it requires. In both cases personal and/or professional growth is the end result.

Dr. James Prochaska, after much researched change and tells us it's divided into six steps that are widely used by facilitators and other agents of change.

Prochaska's six stages are:

• 1. Precontemplation: Precontemplators have no current intention of changing. They have a feeling of hopelessness and use denial and defensiveness to avoid change.
• 2. Contemplation: Contemplators accept or realize that they have a problem and begin to think seriously about changing it.
• 3. Preparation: Most people in this stage are planning to take action within a month. Smart preparation includes a detailed scheme for action. (See SMART goals.)
• 4. Action: This is the overt change of behavior. The person takes action and makes a commitment.
• 5. Maintenance: Often more difficult to achieve than action, maintenance can last six months to a lifetime.
• 6. Termination: The problem no longer presents any temptation. Some experts say termination never occurs, only that maintenance becomes less vigilant over time.