How Personal Agility Can Help You Transition From The Military Back To Civilian Life

This article is the answer key to my last article "Six Key Things To Consider Before Your Transition From The Military ".

In that article I laid out a detailed and thought provoking list on what the those things really are, be sure to check it out.?Transition is about so much more than finding a new job and it also impacts the entire family.

So let's dig into how personal agility can address these issues. Personal Agility is a framework for your life that is widely accepted all over the world. The Personal Agility System helps you to break everything down in any aspect of your life, and to figure out what really matters the most and what steps you need to take to get there. The tools and the training that make up the Personal Agility System help you categorize, prioritize, make better decisions, and be accountable for successful completing what's most important. It helps you build a foundation that you can use for the rest of your life when making personal decisions, or for family or work decisions. It also focuses on a couple of critical things that I want to talk about. They are, what really matters and efficiently determining your priorities.

Here are just a few things that personal agility can help you solve when transitioning:

• Determining what you want to do after the military
• Determining if you need training or certifications, and when it's best to get them
• Determining where you want to live after the military
• Determining the type and extent of volunteering you should do
• Establishing family priorities and ensuring you make time for the family
• Finding financial balance for your family

All of these things are part of military transition, it's a lot. It can be about as difficult as trying to put a puzzle together in the dark. It can certainly cause stress, anxiety, and depression... especially if you run into any roadblocks, or quite simply can't find a job. Without proper planning money and patience run out quickly, which can lead to stress at home. These pitfalls can all be avoided and you can have a smoother transition. It's really important to do it right, especially at a time when you're supposed to be fitting back in with family life and the routine of your spouse and kids.

Here's my breakdown on how the Personal Agility System and tools addresses those transition items from my last article:

First is determining "what really matters" followed by "what is urgent". Once you have determined those two things you can start processing through everything in the proper order to get it done, one thing at a time. These are two of the 6 questions of the Personal Agility System.

For example, family and relocation really matter when transitioning. You want your family to be happy, content, and together. You want you AND your spouse to be able to follow both of your passions and pursue both of your dreams. You want the kids to be in the best schools in the best neighborhood. Lots of decisions and priorities here!

Also, completing all that separation paperwork, managing your finances, and finding that new career are all urgent matters. These two examples as well as everything else mentioned in the last article have a place and a priority. Managing and keeping track of it all is the unbearable weight we all struggle with when transitioning from the military.

This leads to one of my favorite things about the Personal Agility System, the Priorities Map. It helps you align what really matters, what's urgent, and several other key areas into cards and categories. They fall in place based on their priority, urgency, and other criteria. The goal for each card is to get it completed and marked done. I personally have found that this tool enables me to be extremely successful.

For example, in finding a new career things that need prioritized are:

• Determining what you want to do, employee or entrepreneur
• Determine what industry you want to be in
• Preparing a resume or a business plan
• Finding a mentor
• Networking
• Applying
• Interviewing

And this is just a basic list, there are other items that could be added. Also some of the items could be broken down into sub items. When you visualize all of this on the Priorities Map, it becomes easy to sort and order.

But finding a new career is just one thing! At a higher level you may have several "what really matters" items. The Personal Agility System also has a Forces Map where you can determine the multiple forces impacting your life and break them down. Then you can add items from the Forces Map into your Priorities Map as appropriate.

The Forces Map would contain things such as:

Career, as just mentioned above.

Family, what do they need as a result of transition. School or job application, registration, transfer, sports, activities, and a new home.

Volunteering, do you still do it? If so what and how much? Is there even a local chapter where you're moving?

Finances, they need to meet your needs before, during, and after the transition, you may need to buy a house or a new vehicle. Are you saving for that now? What else do you need?

Another thought provoking tool is the "life is the ocean" metaphor. There's a lot of detail and though based on this but I will mention one thing that helped me and that was course correction. Along my journey I have learned many skills and gotten really good at them. However some of them did not take me very far in my next adventure. Often a new destination or job requires new knowledge or training that you will need to learn. If I could pick just one thing in comparing the difference between military life and civilian life it would be the stability of the job. You can easily complete 20 to 30 years in the military by doing great work, staying fit, and becoming a leader. As a civilian you really never know how long a job will last, even if you do your best every day. It could be many years or it could end up being less than a year. Once you transition from the military it's almost like you have to become an expert at transition, as well as many other required skills.

The "life is the ocean" metaphor and course correction can help you navigate all that in finding a new career and beyond. Some examples of course correcting would be networking with the right people, having the right mentors, and adjusting your continuing education in order to reach your desired new position. These things will need to change based on your goals and destination.

The truth of the matter is that transition never really ends. Once you're out of the military chances are high you will change jobs again, family and life priorities change, and unseen things you were not planning for happen. Knowing how to handle these changes and deciding what really matter can always be done by continuing to use these methods to successfully navigate life going forward.

I personally have transitioned several times after the military, and not all by choice. Did Personal Agility help me, absolutely! As described above it can help you navigate your transition. But the next and even greater step is the rest of your life after transition. I have applied the Personal Agility System to how I operate in both my personal and professional life. Additionally there are tools and training beyond what I have described that address both personal and work life.

Understanding the truth about yourself can help you break down all barriers to happiness and success, Personal Agility helps you find the answers that can change your life! I now have a better work-life balance, spend less time volunteering, enjoy more quality time with the family, and I even lost 20 lbs.

If you're interested in a smoother transition, making some positive life changes, and learning more about the Personal Agility System let me know. I would love to share more about it.

Thanks for reading!

Pete