A note to my friends in transition

Before I went out on my own to launch Career Strategists in 1999, I remember counting the days at my last job as a marketing communications director and feeling frustrated, stuck and anxious. I was ready for a big career change, I just wasn’t sure which path to take. So, in keeping with my old type A, “I’m going to make this happen,” approach, I planned a vacation to Mexico with my husband and demanded that the Universe bring me the answer by the time we returned from our trip. (Sadly, my timeline and the Universe’s were not in sync.) I laugh now at how silly and audacious this seems. Yet, I also feel deep empathy for my old self who was so uncomfortable with living in the unknown she attempted to force an outcome.

Being in transition can be challenging. But it doesn’t have to be.

Again, I’m asking, “What’s next?” I love to teach, coach and mentor men and women around resiliency and how to come home to themselves through the art and science of self-care, but I also feel I’ve outgrown a lot of my old structures, language and how I teach.  My soul wants to evolve. And I’m ready.

Thankfully, today, I navigate transitions differently now than I did 20 years ago.  Here are some of the practices that help me embrace and flow with uncertainty, rather than fight it. I try and remember:

Trust the timing.  I take deeply guided baby steps and follow the voice of my Wise Self , but I don’t force things to happen. I trust there is a Universal timing unfolding and when all the pieces are there, they WILL come together. I learned through years of coaching thousands of men and women through career transitions that this is always the case. You’re not ready until you’re ready.

Self-compassion changes everything.  When I find myself becoming overwhelmed or generating self-defeating thoughts, I put my hand on my heart and take a deep breath. I step back and take a 30,000-foot view, assessing everything that I’ve got on my plate and acknowledging all the things I am doing well to help myself, my family and others.

How you start your day is how you do your day.  No matter how rushed or packed my day is, I always take some time to enter the next 15 hours intentionally. For me, that usually looks like moving my body and then doing a 20-minute meditation to open myself up to what my heart -not just my head- most wants me to hear about how best to use my energy. Learn more.

Don’t forget to ask for support.  I constantly hear my dad saying, “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” Letting yourself be vulnerable enough to reach out for a new perspective, some valuable mentoring, or to just admit you’re feeling lost–can be liberating and replenishing.

Give yourself what you need.  I recently blogged about Radical Self-Care where I shared some of the practices I’m adopting during this time of transition. When we take the time to tune in (and respond) to what we most need-whether that be a walk after work or asking for a referral for a therapist-we befriend ourselves. We feel like we’ve got our own back.

Be kind to yourself this week and let me know what helps you through times of transition. We’re all in this together.  P.S. Want more? Read 10 Things I Tell Clients in Career Transition or Why You May Need a Career Coach but Probably Don’t Know It.

Want support for living in the unknown? I’d love to help:

• Attend one of my self-renewal retreats and receive high-level support, mentoring for living intentionally. P.S. My Sept. 29-Oct. 1 Esalen retreat has just 3 spots left and my Oct. 27-29 Kripalu retreat has just a handful of spots left (lodging is almost sold out at both venues).
  
• Schedule me to speak to your organization, company or team on resiliency, stress management and mindfulness. Learn more.
• Explore the idea of facilitating or joining our Personal Renewal Groups for women (in 10 countries worldwide); becoming a RTA-Certified Facilitator can be a great way to support your own growth, empower women locally and learn the art of self-care. Our online training is $100 off through Sept. 30 and includes private coaching with me!

Join me here in the Berkshire Mountains of Western MA at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health Oct. 27-29 for New Way of Being: Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat.

Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by transformational coach/speaker/author and Career Strategists president, Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about living intentionally, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Spirituality & Health and more. Thousands of women in ten countries are becoming RTA-Certified Facilitators and leading/joining Personal Renewal Groups based on her award-winning self-care curriculum.  She is the author of The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal and Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and 15 year-old son. More on her background here.