Change doesn’t come for free.

Besides negative impacts a change may cause, change requires attention, emotions, time, energy and sometimes money. Understanding the costs required to make a change will help you identify whether a change is worth it.

As with impacts, look at what it will cost both you and others. When your change requires the agreement of others, you’ll not only have the time you spent making the change, but the time you spend convincing others to help you.

Consider the:

• Attention
  The mental overhead of making a change.
• Emotions
  The emotions that arise making changes, from a sense of loss to frustration when things don’t go according to plan to taking on others’ emotions.
• Time
  The time required to make the change. Figure more time than you expect.
• Energy
  The amount of energy you need. Change can be more tiring than we expect.
• Money
  Any money you need to make or support your change.

Think about both one-time, temporary costs you incur when making the change and ongoing, permanent costs that you might have after the change.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by what’s needed, focus on the impacts you’ll receive; think of any costs as an investment into your future happiness.