The Sky is No Limit: Managing My Transition in Real Time

#TransitionInRealTime It's time to hit the ground running.

Christmas & New Year's have passed, and I hope your time with family and friends was fantastic! If you're like me, I'm sure you carefully planned how and where you'd spend your vacation time over the holidays. I'll bet some of you INTJs already had it planned and locked in before you pulled out of the in-laws driveway in January 2017.

So would it surprise you to know that many professionals like us spend less planning time between announcing transition and their entire post-military future than they do on what they are going to do for next Christmas?

That's not ho-ho. That's ho-no.

That's the transition topic I want to talk about today: time. As I've progressed on my transition journey, I've found, as you will find, that there are no shortage of available "transition resources" out there for us. It's amazing. It would make any WWII, Korea, or Vietnam Veteran shake their head in wonder at the variety of services available today.

The sheer volume of information and assistance offered to me so far, made me realize it is vital I quickly pair it down to what gives me the most bang for my transition buck.

My time, not those resources, is my most single valuable commodity in this process. All of these resources compete for my time, be it a mouse click or an hour long appointment. So I don't want to waste it on the "nice to know but not very helpful" or the "lots of effort, little return." Nor do I want to make the mistake of overlooking a less than obvious resource that could have significantly helped my plan in a way I might not have expected.

Notice I didn't say "time." I said my time. You've got to be really selfish about how you spend your time during transition. Don't waste it on stuff that seem value added, but really isn't. I can't define what your values hierarchy is, just you be sure you know what it is for you. This will maximize your time+value connection, and minimize wasted time that you'll never get back.

Back to those competing resources I was talking about. The Army, DOD, US Government, and countless non-profit, and for-profit institutions, all offer something to facilitate our journey.

But there's a journey in First Class Air, and there's a journey on Space A Military Air (Space A my private sector friends, is the DOD program that allows military personnel, their families, and retirees travel on military aircraft when there is room on-board).

One gets you there directly, quickly, and ready to go. Space A? Well it may take a while to get where you're going, you may get bumped, and you might not even end up where you thought you were going. Oh, and no bags either. Which journey do you want? Your choices in what resources you give your time to will help determine the journey you have along the way, and ultimately where and when you arrive.

I'm trying to keep it simple by sticking to the basics first and foremost. So far, I've learned that a "bigger" resource is not necessarily better. Weighing and comparing resource options before committing my time against it is important. It has fostered self-confidence that I am defining my path and my future the way I want. I remind myself frequently that nobody is defining my new future for me except me. So I want to "go as big or go home" as I can. Valuing my time now will help me realize that later.

I'll be attending the Army's Soldier For Life Program and ATAP this week. I already know both cover mandatory transition requirements, and that it will help prepare us with fundamentals exposure. There are also a lot of other potential value-added resources I'm looking forward to learning about, and I'll mention them next time. For now, know that there are a lot more resources and people out there for you that can be helpful to you. But remember, by far the most valuable resource you have is your time. Helpful is what you decide, but make sure you decide in enough time.

Speaking of, it's time for me to get ready for tomorrow.

Next, I'll be talking about how transition is actually a solitary and isolating experience compared to the typical Army team approach to doing things that we're used to. I'll share what I've learned from others, along with what I'm doing now to boost the support I get while I continue my journey.

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