Who Moved My Cheese? How to Face Change with Intention

By Anna Ram ~ Psychologist~ Counseling and Coaching Solutions

Do We Like Change?

Life is a continuous cycle of change. We see it in our physical growth, relationships, knowledge, and the environments around us.

We also see the world going through a broad—but uneven—collective shift because change is not uniform. Interconnected spiritual and human forces are reshaping behavior, institutions, and social norms worldwide. These forces include the global economy, media and technology, urbanization, mobility, education, culture, environmental pressures, geopolitics, and wars. While shared pressures push societies in similar directions, local conditions, choices, and resistance shape different outcomes and rates of change.

Change vs. Transition

Change can be understood in two forms: gradual and sudden. It is an external event that can be described objectively—what happened, when it happened, and how it happened. Change may be positive or negative, and it can unfold slowly through small, often unnoticed shifts such as skill building or habit formation, or suddenly through visible events such as job loss, accidents, major policy shifts, or new technology.

People respond in different ways: some welcome change, some resist it, and many do both at different times.

Transition, by contrast, is the internal process of adapting to change. It involves how you interpret what happened, how you process your emotions, test new responses, and reorganize your routines, identity, and habits to fit a new reality.

Transition takes time, and its length often depends on how much a person adapts versus resists. You do not need to have everything figured out—one clear step today can change tomorrow. Moving from change to transition requires inner work: feeling, testing, and integrating. Personal history, social context, available resources, and perceived risk all shape how people respond to uncertainty, loss, motivation, and adaptation.

Who Moved My Cheese?

Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese?, is a simple fable that illustrates four common responses to change. The story takes place in a maze filled with corridors and chambers that contain cheese, and it follows four characters: two mice with simple instincts and two little people, Hem and Haw, whose thinking is shaped by beliefs and emotions. Together, they show how people react when something they value moves or disappears. The tale is brief but powerful. It highlights emotions such as uncertainty, loss, motivation, and adaptation and offers a practical framework for moving forward. We can explore it together in session if you want.

The Metaphor Elements

• The Cheese: what you value—your job, relationships, health, financial security, routines, status, goals, or expectations.
• The Maze: the environment in which you search—complex, uncertain, and full of dead ends. For many, it represents life itself.
• The Cheese Moving: any change that makes old expectations obsolete—such as job loss, policy shifts, health issues, family changes, or personal growth.

The Characters and Four Responses Styles

• Mouse Sniff (anticipates): notices early signals and senses that change is coming.
• Mouse Scurry (acts fast): moves quickly, tests options, and values action over overthinking.
• Little Hem (resists): denies the change, clings to the past, and reacts with anger or paralysis.
• Little Haw (learns): hesitates at first but gradually reflects, experiments, and adapts.

At Dollar Store— Real Life Illustration

I was paying for an item at a dollar store and chose not to use my credit card because I had loose change. I said to the cashier, “I should use these before they become useless.” I was thinking that one day buying and selling may be fully digital, making cash obsolete. My comment prompted the next person in line to say, “Soon, we won’t have anything to buy with.” I responded, “We may have to pay with crypto or another digital system.” She replied angrily, “This is America, for God’s sake. They don’t have to tell us what to do with our lives.” She was referring to the current U.S. government and the economy. Her reaction—shaped by financial strain and worry—shows how major change can trigger strong emotions, especially for people who depend on low-cost stores to meet basic needs.

I have read statistics showing strong public disapproval of the government, but this time I had the chance to take the pulse of someone visibly affected by the economy. She may also have been reacting to the president’s remark in the news when he was asked about the country’s financial situation. He said: “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran is that they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”

The woman in the store has noticed that someone “is moving her cheese,” but like little Hem she resists. I wish I could help her in the spot but was not the time and place. I can only pray for her.

How Change Plays Out

Losing a job or a Leadership position

Change (external): the company downsizes—or something else happens—and you lose your job or leadership position.

Transition (intentional steps): after the initial shock, assess your skills, update your resume, take courses, expand your network, and consider temporary or freelance work. Try small experiments. Daily routines and feedback can speed recovery.

Denying change prolongs the struggle. Action shapes outcomes and acting sooner often changes the story. Delay hardens habits, narrows options, and creates barriers to future change.

Interactions Matter: the way these response styles interact affects how people adapt. Sniff notices early warning signs, and Scurry responds quickly. Together, they speed adaptation. Hem resists change and can keep people stuck. Haw helps bridge the gap by taking small steps and encouraging movement. A mix of Sniff, Scurry, and Haw supports faster, steadier change, too much Hem blocks progress.

The Maze is always changing; there is always new cheese somewhere, often in unexpected places. The point is not that change is easy, but that how we notice, feel, and act shapes our path. Spotting signals early, trying small solutions, and learning as you go usually open more possibilities than waiting for the past to return. Delaying change hardens habits, narrows options, and builds barriers.

Action Steps

• Reflect: Which of the four styles do you recognize in yourself right now?
• Act: Pick one small experiment to try this week related to a change you face.
• Share: Comment in our comments box or share this post if it helped.
• Request an appointment and we will sketch a simple plan together.

In individual or group sessions, it is possible to learn how to notice early signs of change, run small experiments, test one idea at a time, and keep the routines that provide stability while you learn to face uncertainty as an opportunity. “Crisis is an opportunity” for creativity, innovation, and resilience.

Proverbs 3:5  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 11:14  “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”