Changing your mind is as important as being certain.

I began writing today’s post with a completely different topic in mind. Originally, the post was looking like this:

Leave them feeling like the most interesting person in the world.

There’s a story of two dinners. One dinner was in the company of William Gladstone. The other was with Benjamin Disraeli. Both men were bitter political rivals at the height of the Victorian era in England. Both Gladstone and Disraeli would each go on to serve as Prime Minister.

Lady Jennie Jerome Churchill (mother of the future prime minister Winston Churchill), had Gladstone first, and later next to Disraeli. When asked what her impression was

I know I want to address the topic. But I was not happy with what I was writing. So I decided to scrap the post for now.

Changing my mind wasn’t a betrayal of the original idea. It wasn’t even a rejection of my intention for the original post. It was a “not now.”

Sometimes you’re just not ready to move forward with a previously chosen course of action. You may feel like changing your mind, but refrain from doing so because you want to be congruent, and because you’ve already committed to doing something. You want to follow through.

But it’s ok to not follow through and to rescind the commitment. It’s ok to change your mind and say “never mind” or “not now” or “my priorities changed.”

While you strive to be a consistent and congruent human being, remember that you’re also a mutable and dynamic being who is constantly changing. And realize that it’s not an either/or. It’s an “and”.

You can be consistent and congruent, AND change behavior or beliefs. You can be certain AND change your mind. The key is to stay true to your highest Self and intention.

As Shakespeare’s Polonius tells his son Laertes in Hamlet:

…to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false…

– Hamlet (1.3.80–82)

Be true to your Self, and what comes up for you along the way. Honor change within you. Be willing to pursue it, and you’ll be surprised by abundant possibilities.

Featured photo by Michael Petrila at Unsplash.