Difficult changes are often marked by ambivalence, resistance, and uncertainty. It can feel like some part of us is bought in and ready for the change while another part of us is still holding back. So what should we do about that? Do we just dismiss it, get over it, power through it? More often than not, this produces the same kind of half-hearted change that does not really take hold. Instead, the key to meaningful and lasting change is to acknowledge our ambivalence and explore both sides of it, that is, the part that is ready for change and the part that is not yet ready. We need to deal with the things that we are still holding onto and recognize the role that those things continue to serve in our life in order to be able to move on from them.

