STUCK Sucks!

I am excited this month to dive into conversations about transition and change. Preparing for this topic, I did a lot of reflection on significant parts of my career (and life) when I experienced transition (planned and unexpected). I had a few aha moments and I look forward to sharing them with you over the course of the month.

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The first truth that I found was…just before I began my transition; I felt stuck. If you know me personally, I have made some pretty quick and rash BIG decisions in my life. I don’t regret any of them, but they all began with feeling STUCK. Let’s be real! Stuck sucks and change sometimes seems more painful. Where I tend to fall face forward into change, most of us stay stuck for fear of change.

If you are not sure of what stuck feels like…it’s when you dwell on what “should be” and you are unhappy with what “is”.

Today I want to share lessons I have learned to transition in a way that is smart and safe. I will specifically focus on career transition, but these lessons have helped me in life as well.

1. Starting point-The first lesson I have learned is that stuck is a starting point for change. This was important for me because in my mind, there was nowhere to go but up! This change in perspective shifts my mind from the “should be” to think more about what I can do to change my situation.

2. Visualize-Another great lesson that I learned was the power of visualization. I didn’t quite use the actual word (visualization), but I did dream of what I wanted my life to look like. I am a planner by nature, but for some time, I was not sure what I wanted out of my career. I was just letting my career “happen to me”. Whoever was willing to pay me to do something that I was capable of, I took that job. It wasn’t until my twenties (late twenties) that I actually decided what I wanted to do.

3. Goals-Yep! You can’t have a conversation about change and transition without talking about goals. This part typically scares people out of change and propels me to do something rash. I’ve learned that smaller goals are best when I am transitioning from a place of stuckness (I just made that a word). The smaller goals help to ease some of the overwhelm and begins the process of getting out of your comfort zone. If you need help with goal setting; I have created a Goal Getter worksheet that helps me breakdown those bigger goals and focus on smaller ones. You can download your copy here.

4. Breathe-The last lesson that I am still learning today, is the simply breathe! Change is hard. Transition is scary. Pausing and keeping your feet on the ground is important. For me, I do things that I love to take breaks from focusing on the uncomfortable parts of change. Just be sure that you don’t abandon your goals completely.

“A transition is exactly that—a passage to something new.” -Michelle Obama

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I hope these lessons were helpful in defining what STUCK looks like and how to begin to transition out of it. If you are experiencing a career transition and need some help in navigating…hit me up! That’s what this is all about, helping you transition.