Is Transition A Bad Word For You?

All kinds of feelings probably show up for you when someone says they’re in transition. It’s a word that reflects a change of some kind. As Peter and I are in transition, we thought we would share some of what we’re doing to make the change process a good one for us.

We’re closely watching the feelings we have around different aspects of the transition

Each day brings new adventures of things we need to do to move the transition forward in the direction we want. Each morning we touch base about the larger things that need to get done. When we have the conversation, it includes the question of ‘how are you doing today?’ This question accompanying the tasks helps us to uncover or verbalize any feelings we have about the bigger picture of the transition or specific tasks that we need to accomplish.

The power of the question lies in its ability to uncover unknown areas of concern or discomfort. When we don’t make a big deal of the feelings of fear, worry, concern, or whatever, it makes it easier to move through the day without ruminating about a particular issue. This is a major change in our thinking because we used to focus on all the things that could go wrong, instead of what we want to happen or how things could go right!

We’re paying attention to ‘fears’ that show up in our thinking

Every day this is something we are aware of, but when you’re going through a transition, this can take up more mind-space than usual. Simply being aware of the ‘fears’ or negative feelings is a big step, because when you do that, you can choose to think differently.

For us when we realize we’re spending more time than needed to understand a particular decision or challenge and the fears we have about it, we are choosing to move on and not ruminate. Acknowledging fear is a good thing, focusing on what we fear does not help.

We’re refocusing on what we want to come out of the whole transition

This is a key step for everyday life, but when you’re going through a transition and you don’t really know the outcome, it becomes a really powerful way to keep yourself motivated in a way to intentionally move forward.

Meeting new people, participating in different activities, going to new places, learning new ways of doing things you’ve already done are good examples of the kinds of things that accompany a transition. Embracing these changes from a place of abundance, curiosity, and openness is a very intentional way to build a new future.

Sure, there are things you’ll decide work better the way you did them before, but it’s the chance to see a different perspective around the same issue you worked with in the past that offers you possible new learnings of how you could do something in a new way. By being open to these kinds of shifts in your thinking, you not only move forward to your new future, but you exercise your thinking and openness to change.

If you think about it, change is the only way to get the new life you envision for yourself. Understanding how to do it in a way that’s empowering and engaging is the trick to building the future you want!