Hardwired for Comfort: Understanding and Overcoming our Brain’s Resistance to Change

Time: 10:15am - 11:45am

Location: Shoreline

Speaker(s): Jen Trumm of Ashland Food Cooperative

All humans are hardwired to resist change. This presentation will help us understand that it’s in how we react to this awareness that most drives our successes (and/or failures) when it comes to change.

In today’s session, we’re going to be slowing things down and rather than focusing on the external factors making our lives (and brains) crazy, we’re going to be focusing on the simple and incremental steps we can all take that can help to help shift our mindsets when it comes to our resistance to change.

We’ll start with a short breathing exercise to help ground us into the present moment.

Once centered, we’re going to talk about how & why the resistance we have to things changing is completely normal and to be expected when we’re talking about the human brain. I’ll share some interesting facts & figures that will help drive this home.

Then, I’ll be sharing a model that has changed everything for me when it comes to how I approach change. It’s called TEAR (Thoughts, Emotions, Actions, Results) and it’s really about how we internalize and process the circumstances that are presented to us. We’ll go through each piece of this model and discuss how it impacts our reactiveness and/or responsiveness to change.

We’ll then break into small groups and put the model into action by having participants each consider a past or current change that has created tension. We’ll break down with our groups how our own thoughts, emotions and actions have created the results that we may or may not have desired in the past and how to use the model as a tool to become more intentional in our present and future.

We’ll end our session together with another short centering exercise.

 

 

With over 23 years of progressive HR leadership experience, Jen has been on a transformative journey in recent years.

During the pivotal days of COVID, she earned a Life Coaching certification and, in 2021, took the leap into self-employment to focus on helping HR professionals break through their self-imposed limitations and live more authentic, purposeful lives.

In the summer of 2022, Jen experienced a life-altering event that shook her world, but over time, it helped her build a stronger, clearer foundation rooted in self-identity.

Now, in her role as HR Manager at Ashland Food Co-op in Ashland, Oregon (since June 2023), Jen has found a new level of professional fulfillment—one made possible by the deep inner work she’s done. While the future remains uncertain, she is committed to helping others discover their own light.