Change and Transition

I'm going through a big change right now!  I'm changing my website, re-activating my blog, and re-formatting my workshop offers!  Hopefully Spring's fresh energy will sustain me not only through the change, but motivate my entire transition! And just what is the difference???

People have asked me why I label what I do ‘Coaching Transitions’.  They insist that change and change management are the key words in our world today.  What company isn’t going through some type of M&A, restructuring, downsizing or expansion?  Who isn’t in perpetual change? Who isn’t adapting to new tasks, new teams, career growth or shifts in professional and personal projects?

Let me explain, why transitions as opposed to change; Willam Bridges describes it clearly in his book, ‘Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change.’ Change is situational, physical.  We change schools, jobs, partners, locations, goals, etc.  But here’s the crux of the matter.  Change happens.  Transitions are the psychological adaptation to those changes.  That doesn’t necessarily just happen.  We find ourselves in a new situation with an old mindset.

How can we get our heads around the changes happening in our lives?  Changes which can be spontaneous or planned, desired or feared, embraced or resisted…  We need to come to terms, our terms, with what is new, different, unknown.  Think moving abroad, starting your business, climbing the ladder, having a baby, retiring.  Change is our only constant!

Bridges describes the process of transition; the unraveling of what is known, the space called ‘no-man’s land’ of the unknown which we wade through to finally begin piecing things together.  We pick up those most vital pieces of the old and combine those with new pieces, and new perspectives. The bits which create sense and meaning in our new situation.

And therein lies our personal power.

Our power to choose which pieces are right for us, which pieces provide us with both security and inspiration to build what we want, what we need to thrive in change.  What skills, connections and attitudes do we want to make the most of the change around us?

It has been my experience that people can blossom in change if they have the support and space to acknowledge the process, validate what that triggers within them, recognize the options before them and feel the power of the choices they can make.  I love seeing the energy and enthusiasm my clients discover when they negotiate the transitions for the changes happening in their lives.

What change are you dealing with today, this week, this month, this year?

Interested in learning more?  Read Williams’ book or reach out; let’s have a conversation to look at the changes going on in your life and what you want to make of them!