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Today's Topic: How to Navigate Transitions

♟️ MY TURN:

For many, this is the last week of quote-unquote summer.

And some are already knee-deep into the first week back to school (myself included 🤯)

More people view September as “the other January” — a fresh start, a chance to buy new notebooks and create new habits (coming next week).

It got me thinking a lot about transitions in life and how to navigate them.

All the rhythm I found in the summer has been thrown off by new schedules, a new cast of characters for my kids, new communication channels with teachers....

and a feeling like it’s “Back to school” for me as well at work. Everyone is back to work, sending emails, and looking to sprint until the holidays.

And I’m just trying to survive.

I have big goals for the rest of the year but I know that if I don’t acknowledge the unstable terrain of this transition time, I’ll likely fall…..hard.

Resonate?

Whether you are dealing with back to school or not, life is full of transition seasons:

• Moving to a new city
• Starting a new job
• Starting relationships
• Ending Relationships

And my life has been full of a few more:

• Having 3 babies
• Divorce
• Starting a business
• Selling a business
• Starting a new career

All of these require a transition sequence.

But here’s where most people go wrong:

1. Resisting Change

Trying to keep BAU while going through a transition will lead to dropped balls and exhaustion.

2. Not planning for rest

When we run on autopilot with an existing schedule or routine we save on cognitive energy expenditure.

But when things change, we have more decisions, more to-dos and more people to think about.

Rest is critical during these times but many run themselves to the ground.

3. Unrealistic Expectations

If 80% of your energy was dedicated to something and now you need to share that energy among 3 new things, it’s not realistic to keep up the progress you were making with thing #1.

People who fail to reset expectations will feel frustration and stagnation which will actually set them back further in the long run.

Ready to navigate your next transition more easily?

Keep reading.

PS if you are looking for more support, I have been helping over 100+ builders and high-performance think through their next chapter. I offer group and 1:1 coaching and am opening 10 spots in September to help my subscribers think about their next season. For $83/month you get access to me every day in Slack.

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♟️ YOUR TURN:

Today I’m going to share my transition sequence. The same sequence that got me through the above laundry list of life’s greatest hits and will get me through the next few weeks of back to school.

• ACKNOWLEDGE
• PAUSE
• ONRAMP
• NON-NEGOTIABLES

Step 1: Acknowledge it’s happening

Simply acknowledging you are entering a different season is the foundation.

You are giving yourself permission to operate differently - no shame or judgment.

Are you in a transition season right now?

Step 2: Pause to Grab a flashlight

When transitions happen, life feels out of control.

And when life feels out of control, our inner child tends to get loud. This is a good time to shine a light on some of that inner work and make sure you’re running to a new chapter of your life and not just running away from the discomfort of the unknown of the current one.

Examples:

• Right after my divorce, I jumped into dating. I wasn’t ready but my inner child was so scared of being alone. Once I calmed her, I was able to learn how to love being on my own.
• Many of the people I coach on their career transitions take the first job offer they get when they are unhappy with their current situation. They are running from the discomfort of the current situation and not toward the best step for their career out of fear they won’t get anything else.

During this pause, it’s important to check in:

• What’s important to you right now?
• How is this different from before?
• What do you need to let go of to achieve your goals right now?
• What are you running away from?
• What are you running toward?

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Step 3: Create an on-ramp

Every new season of life has an on-ramp or off-ramp period. You can’t merge into traffic from a dead stop and you can't enter a new season at 80 mph.

For the next 2 weeks, I will be on-ramping back to school - slowly speeding up. I’ve cut my workload and reduced my two-do list to a one-do list.

I call this the energy discount.

When something is coming, changing, or leaving my life, it will require more energy in the beginning.

• I gave myself 3 months to recalibrate after selling my company.
• I gave myself 1 year to recalibrate after my last big breakup.
• I gave myself 2 weeks to recalibrate for back to school.

Are you giving yourself space to recalibrate?

Step 4: Set your non-negotiables

When life feels shaky and you are desperately trying to find stable ground, it’s important to set your non-negotiables: 3 things that you will maintain to feel good and grounded.

Here are mine:

• Movement every day (even if it’s just a 20 min workout cycle in my gym)
• 9:30 bedtime
• 1 date night every week to reconnect with my partner

TL;DR

When you add to your plate, and your plate is already full, it will overflow.

Take a moment to:

1. Acknowledge the transition
2. Pause to check in with yourself
3. Create an on-ramp
4. Set your non negotiables

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If you are going through a transition period and struggling, I’d love to chat with you about joining my office hours community. I’m opening up 10 more spots and would love to chat with you. Reply back if you’d like to learn more.

I can’t wait to hear from you.

You've got this,

A

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113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
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