The moment was just too much. I got offered a new job. I had to talk to my business partner and my family about this opportunity and then figure out what my life would look like in this next phase. I could feel the intense pressure mounting between my shoulder blades.
It was good pressure. Always good to have options, but pressure nonetheless.
Within two months of me starting my new job my father went into the hospital and ended up passing away. He was proud and it felt good to make the transition when I did, but I ended up crying most mornings before I went into work.
I didn’t have the coping skills to handle all the changes. As I look back, I realize that I didn’t have a lot of the skills that I have now.
I don’t want you to go through the pain that I went through when I made a major career transition. So now I use a process to help me stay ahead of major transitions. I wish that I started preparing my mindset before I made the leap to start my own business. I know that I could have used this time to make improvements that would have helped me succeed emotionally and professionally.
Here is my three step process:
- Understand
- Visualize
- Grow
Each step is meant to support the next. This is important because you don’t want to visualize before you understand.
We no longer have just one or two careers. We have many careers that take us in many different directions. In these uncertain times we have to always prepare ourselves for our next career adventure.
Understand the Situation
The questions you ask yourself as you are transitioning to your next career in life are so important. The only way to understand your current situation is to get curious. This curiosity will help you uncover options that you didn’t see before.
When I asked myself a very important question…
What is just one thing I’m grateful for in this situation?
This question helped me open my perspective to new possibilities. I felt so blind, but this question helped me to pause, enjoy and make a choice based on what I needed at the time
This then opened up other questions like…
- What are potential opportunities that I might be missing?
- Could I do more research to help me calm my anxiety?
- Who could I ask for help to give me a fresh perspective?
The list goes on, but once I felt comfortable with how my life was changing, I then got excited to take action. That’s when I was ready to move on to the next step.
Visualize Your Next Career
I struggled with visualizing what I wanted out of life. If you are anything like me it will take some time to hone this skill, but once you do it’s very powerful.
Start with asking yourself:
What will the transition look like as I’m going through it?
This will help prepare your mind and body for what is about to happen. Like a great athlete might visualize scoring that goal in order to prepare for all different kinds of scenarios, you have to think about how you will act when you are dealing with a stressful situation.
Being able to visualize yourself in your next career is a skill that is very helpful because it allows you to process what your options are and it can help you make quick decisions later because you’ve already mentally put yourself in this potential position.
Create Leverage
When my father was passing I used this as an opportunity to get a deeper understanding of myself. I saw how my father struggled to stay positive and connected to life in the hospital. I thought about how I wanted to handle my death. I didn’t want to complain about every little thing. I don’t blame him, but it helped me understand how I was heading down a similar path if I didn’t make changes.
It was at this time that I started my gratitude journal for the third time and it stuck. My gratitude practice has been the foundation of my mindset growth. My mindset growth has led to me creating a movement to help others improve their lives through the power of gratitude. This huge life improvement would never have happened without having to transition to life without my father.
I would never wish the death of anyone’s father to make improvements to their life, but we all go through these transitions and it’s what we do with them that determines the happiness and success that we have in our lives.
When you can stack another skill on top of a current skill, you become a little more valuable to your co-workers, family, and friends. These skills will help you build confidence and will serve as a springboard to your next transition, which could be a promotion or starting a new business. Whatever it is, you’ll be ready.
Take a moment to look at your life and possible next transition. If you are going through a transition right now, what can you do to make improvements to your life? Are you prepared to succeed?
What skill could you add to help you in your career? Adding a complementary skill like improving your ability to communicate clearly while also listening to feedback or improving your writing skills can make a big impact in your life. The key is to stack the right skills together to help you get more leverage in your career and life.
If you need help I’m here for you. I help coach people through transitions that they are going through at work or in their personal life. It's a deep dive to help you uncover blindspots and help keep you accountable for landing on your feet. If you are curious about how I can help, just reach out and we can setup a consultation.