By Lisa Hornsby
June 17, 2026
There’s a particular kind of unsettled feeling that comes with being in the middle of change.
It might be a restructure at work. A career transition. A shift in your business direction. Something in your personal life that’s reshaping everything else. Or simply a period where so much feels uncertain that you’ve stopped being sure of where the ground is.
If you’re there right now – welcome. You’re not alone.
And while change is ultimately a good thing (most of the time), that doesn’t mean it always feels that way in the middle of it. So here are five ways to stay grounded when the world around you is in motion.
1. Come Back to What’s Still True
When change is loud, it’s easy to lose sight of the things that haven’t changed. Your values. Your strengths. The relationships that matter. The things you know to be true about yourself, even when your circumstances feel different.
Grounding doesn’t mean pretending nothing has shifted. It means remembering who you are underneath all the noise.
Take a moment to write down: What is still true about me right now? Not about your role, your situation, or your plans – but about you. What are you good at? What matters to you? What do you consistently bring, regardless of context?
That list is your anchor.
What’s one thing that feels certain about you, even when everything else feels uncertain?
2. Shrink the Timeframe
When we’re in the middle of change, the mind tends to leap forward… catastrophising about the future, or trying to solve problems that don’t exist yet. This is the brain doing its job (trying to keep us safe), but it’s also exhausting.
One of the most effective antidotes? Shrink the timeframe.
Instead of asking “What will this look like in six months?”, ask “What do I need today?” Instead of trying to figure out the whole path, focus on the next step. Just the next step.
You don’t need to have it all mapped out. You just need to know where to put your foot next.
3. Protect Your Energy Deliberately
Change is energy-intensive. The cognitive load of uncertainty, the emotional effort of adapting, the sheer amount of thinking that goes into navigating the unknown, it all costs something.
Which means that during periods of change, you can’t afford to treat your energy like an unlimited resource.
What recharges you? What drains you? What conversations, commitments, or habits are currently costing more than they’re giving? And which ones are non-negotiable for keeping you well?
This isn’t about doing less. It’s about being intentional about where your energy goes, so you have enough left for what matters most.
4. Talk to Someone Who Helps You Think Clearly
Change can be isolating. Even when you’re going through it surrounded by other people, there’s often a version of it that feels very private – the internal experience of it, the fears you haven’t said out loud, the questions you’re not sure it’s okay to ask.
Find someone you can be honest with. A trusted colleague. A coach. A friend who doesn’t just tell you what you want to hear, but helps you think. Someone whose conversations leave you feeling clearer, not just comforted.
Being witnessed in the middle of uncertainty is one of the most powerful things there is. Don’t try to navigate it entirely alone.
Who in your life helps you think clearly? When did you last talk to them?
5. Trust That You Have Navigated Change Before
Here’s something worth remembering: you have done this before.
Maybe not this change, exactly. But you have been in uncertainty. You have been in a moment that felt too big, too uncertain, too unfamiliar. And you came through it. You adapted, you learnt, you found a way forward.
That history is evidence. Not that change is easy, but that you are capable of it. More capable than the anxious part of your brain wants you to believe.
When things feel shaky, look back at your own track record. The changes you’ve navigated. The moments you’ve survived and grown from. The person you’ve become, partly because of those experiences.
That person, the one who’s got through hard things before, is exactly who you are right now.
Change can shake even the most grounded of us. That’s not a flaw. It’s human.
But staying grounded doesn’t mean staying still. It means staying connected to yourself, to what matters, and to the knowledge that you have everything you need to move through this.
You’ve got this.
Interested in learning more about change management? View IIL’s Change Management™ Foundation and Change Management™ Practitioner courses.
Lucy Hornsby leans into the future of work, positioning herself with a diverse portfolio career across the theme of Change and Transformation. She is a consultant, qualified coach, mentor, author as well as an experienced trainer and public speaker — providing guidance and skills for groups and individuals on subjects that include (but not limited to) change management, career development and personal &/ business transformation. Lucy’s passion and purpose in life is to help other people to reimagine their possibilities.
Connect with Lucy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyhornsby/
