New Beginnings: Change v. Transition

Originally published on 3 August 2022

I have been a bit quiet recently due to the title of this post – a new beginning. It seems many people I know are going through new beginnings whether it is starting a new job or moving to another country or city. Some of you might even be contemplating a new beginning or a big change in your life. Part of my new beginning is starting a new business with the myriad new responsibilities and decisions involved.

Two things prompted the second half of the title of this post. The first was a visit from my mentor whom I haven’t seen in person since we went into lockdown in 2020. The second is a book I bought this weekend called Switchcraft: Harnessing the Power of Mental Agility to Transform Your Life by Elaine Fox. I must state upfront that I am not a fan of self-help books unless they can state something rather more than the obvious and especially if the author has to keep reminding you on almost every page of their expertise. The only reason I bought it is because if I see a book that is in both the business and psychology sections of the bookstore, then, in general, it tends to be intellectually stimulating. However, it did articulate a point about the difference between change and transition that I found useful for this piece.

Change

Over the past two years, we have all had to deal with so much change in our lives brought on by the pandemic. We are returning to some sort of normalcy in public life, but for many of us, our lives have shifted. For some of us, we have realised that we were on the wrong career path or in the wrong job and needed to make a change. For others, we have come to realise how much we value time with our family and friends and want a life-work balance that allows for that.

I have made so many changes to my life this year; started doing yoga every day, left toxic work cultures behind, made certain decisions about my professional and personal life, and started a new business. I was duly excited to tell my mentor all about this now that it was done.

During the past two years, I had made time to speak to my mentor now and then but probably not enough. I know I certainly avoided speaking to him this year while I was on this grand ‘sabbatical’. In part, it was because I didn’t want him to influence the changes that I was making to my life but also to prove to myself that I could stand on my own two feet. In truth, these changes were mostly cosmetic, and he saw through them within five minutes of sitting down with me. He pointed out rather bluntly that we were having the same conversation that we were having pre-pandemic. Not much had changed.

This is the thing with change, it is mostly external. It happens to you and around you. You can make changes to your life but internally, you need to transition, and this is where Switchcraft comes in. In it, Fox quotes another life coach, William Bridges, who makes the point “Without a transition…a change is just a rearrangement of the furniture” (Fox, 2022: 20). I have been rearranging furniture.

Transition

Transition doesn’t happen overnight. Like part of the word suggests – you’re in transit, moving across to a new destination. With any journey, it takes a bit of time and you need to be patient. The things that might have been easy or brought you joy in your previous life or job might be gone now, and you will have to adjust to a new identity, a new you.

Throughout the journey this year, I have been contemplating a transition and a new beginning. However, I haven’t been thinking enough about what I am transitioning to but rather just stumbling along some random path I picked a few months ago. After two brutally honest sessions with my mentor, I have a clearer picture in my mind of where I am heading and what this new me looks like. The work is far from done though. It isn’t easy to let go of old habits and thoughts; it is far easier to rearrange the furniture.

As I said, transition takes time and patience. It also takes some work. Find time for yourself during your day – even 15 minutes – just to think about the new beginning and what you would like it to look like. Whether the transition is professional or personal or both, you need to decide what works in your life and what doesn’t, what to keep and what to discard. For example, if the new beginning is a professional one, you may say that you want to let go of your tendency not to speak up for yourself at work. It just takes a bit of me-time during your day but it’s worth it. You also need to start putting it into action so always keep in mind how you will do that.

New Beginnings

As you embark on a new beginning or contemplate one (spring will be with us in a month so good time to start thinking about this), keep the change versus transition idea in mind. Where are you moving to? What do you want to keep on this journey? What no longer serves you? Also, be patient with the journey and yourself. It isn’t easy and you might have to let go of some things or parts of your life that will be difficult to let go of.

Oh, and I’ll let you know if I change my mind about Switchcraft – if I manage to get through another chapter…

Alex the Generalist