When In Transition

Life is a journey filled with ups and downs, highs and lows, gains and losses, victories and defeats. So many times, we long for an even keel, to find a place of normality, calm, and even strength. Unfortunately, life has a way of interrupting this calm, and forcing things to be unpredictable and sporadic. And in these places we can find ourselves weak, and needing to find our strength again. The funny thing about losing your strength, is that it always seems to happen when we need it most.?

Change, variation, adjustment, and transition are the most consistent threads we will find in this life. As long as the sun rises and sets, we will all experience birth and re-birth, life and death, summer and winter, spring and fall, seedtime and harvest. The question is not if we can avoid transition, because we cannot, but how we can survive and thrive even in the midst of it. What can we learn? How can we grow? What new capacities can we nurture so that we can flourish?

Career transitions are a major part of life today. Research suggests that the average person will make a career change approximately 5-7 times during their working life. With an ever increasing number of different career choices on offer, about 1/3 of the total workforce will now change jobs every 12 months. The average American worker has 12 jobs throughout a lifetime.

If anything, COVID-19 may have accelerated this. With an uncertain economy, regular shifts in technology, employment dislocation, and relational turmoil, Transition is a consistent part of life. Some of these transitions are transitions we plan for, expect, and even embrace. However, other transitions are un-planned for, and provide some shock to the system because we did not anticipate them. Sometimes, difficult transitions happen due to poor choices or mistakes we make. Other times, they simply occur.

This could be a huge part of why people experience so much stress today. Three quarters of Americans experience symptoms related to stress in a given month. 77% experience physical symptoms. 73% experience psychological symptoms. One-third of Americans feel they are living with extreme stress. About half of Americans (48%) feel that their stress has increased over the past five years. Money and work are the leading causes of stress (mentioned by three quarters of Americans). About half of Americans (48%) report lying awake at night due to stress.

I personally went through a period of painful transition over a decade ago. It also brought about a major career shift where I was forced into new and uncertain terrain, with the obvious negative financial challenges. I felt as though I had lost my strength… and with it, almost everything else. Both tangibly and intangibly, emotionally, and practically, unplanned for and major Transition set in.

Losing your strength is tough. There is a huge sense of powerlessness. You had something: “strength”, which was your fuel, energy, motivation, and drive. But now you feel weak. Absent strength, you are strength-less, faith-less, and seemingly hope-less. You feel like nothing. And the very thing that used to attract people and resources to you is gone. So you can feel very alone, without resource or provision.

Maybe, just maybe, we lose our strength for a reason. Sometimes self-confidence can get the best of us, and we need to understand the reality that when we are weak, then we are strong. So, how can we find our strength again and manage through transition?

Look Inside - See What’s Within! No matter what you are feeling, you are amazing! You have capacity and strengths; gifts and talents to offer the world. The seed of greatness is in you. In transition, learn to self-validate and acknowledge all you are and all you have…?Take a look inside!?

Look Outside - See Who Is Around You!?See yourself as surrounded by people who care, people who will give you strength and support and nourishment. Sometimes, we feel as though there are none, but I believe, if we look for it, the universe has placed all around us people who are there for us to help and lend us a hand. As the song says, “I get by with a little help from my friends”.?None of us were designed to walk alone, carry on alone, struggle alone. The seed of help and support is around me. In transition, be sure to gather in help, support, and nurture from those around you. This takes patience and vulnerability…?Take a look outside!?

Look Behind - See What You’ve Come Through!?Every one of us have come through very difficult and trying transitions at some point in our past. Each of these times of transition and anxiety have prepared us for what we are facing today, and the good news is that we’ll never face more than we can handle. But sometimes we may feel like Mother Theresa, who said that “I know God will never give me more than I can handle…I just wish He didn’t trust me so much!” ?Draw strength from your past and all you have come through. In transition, realize that the seeds to get through today are found in what you came through yesterday! Close your eyes and look behind you, and notice all the victories you have won, the mountains you have climbed, and the challenges you have overcome...?Take a look behind! ?

Look Ahead - See Where You’re Going! Sometimes when we in transition, ?we also lose sight of the prize: ?our goals and dreams and visions. Please step back for a moment and remind yourself of your dreams, your goals and visions and hopes and aspirations. Never give up and never let those dreams and aspirations fade. In transition, a look ahead to the future hope that lies before us may be critical in helping us through…?Take a look ahead!?

Look Below - See The Journey!?Sometimes when we are in transition, we also lose sight of the fact that wherever we are going, it is going to be a journey. It is going to take time, putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time. Nothing is instant. There are no instant results in life. Anything that is worth anything takes time, effort, and stick-ability. Gear up for a long journey. In transition, prep for a marathon as opposed to a sprint…?Take a look below!?

Look Above - See The Growth Gaps!?At times in transition, we can be so stressed and so focused on simply getting through it, that we fail to learn the lessons we need to learn. The tragedy is that we always repeat the lessons we neglect to learn. So, in times of transition, ask yourself what you need to learn? What are the growth gaps? What are the things you need to learn to take you from where you are, to where you want to be. Gear up for a season of learning, because transition is all about learning, growth, and adding capacity…?Take a look above!?

Look To The Trailhead - A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins. It is the starting point, the reflection point before you dive in. In any transition, here are some helpful clues in starting and finishing your journey:

o??Replenish – Make sure you employ fully engaged Self-Care to help fuel your tank to get you through it,

o??Reflect – On what matters, and on the things that are most important.

o??Refocus – On those things that make you successful… I call this your “L.I.F.E.F.I.T.” or unique design. Wise stewardship of your life begins by understanding your “L.I.F.E.F.I.T.”, and recalibrating your life to your “L.I.F.E.F.I.T.” What you are made to be determines what you are intended to do. If you don’t understand your “L.I.F.E.F.I.T.”, you end up doing things you are not designed you to do. When your “L.I.F.E.F.I.T.” doesn’t match the role you play in life, you feel like a square peg in a round hole.?This is frustrating to you and others.?

In the end, unfortunately we cannot "opt out" of transition in our lives. Either personally or professionally, transition is a part of life. Don’t fight it. Flow with it. Don’t fear it. Feel your way through it. Don’t avoid it. Accept it. Embrace it with all your heart, and learn what you need to learn. Like the caterpillar, turn a time of transition into a metamorphosis towards excellence, fulfilled potential, and living your “L.I.F.E.F.I.T.”…

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Abe Brown, MBA, M.R.Ed/C, CPHSA is the Coach’s Coach, and is an Entrepreneur, Professional Speaker, International Best-Selling Author, and High-Performance Leadership Coach.?He is the Founder of Certified Flourishing Coaching?, the?Flourishing Coaching Program?, the CEO of?Wellness Innovate Corp. and the CEO of Momentum Coaching

Abe is known as the Coach’s Coach, and for being people-first.?He is most passionate about supporting people, relationships, entrepreneurs, businesses, and non-profits to thrive. Abe is also passionate about workplace mental health and changing the world by changing the workplace.?Along with the team at Wellness Innovate, Abe is the creator of Flourishing Workplace?.??