Transitions Don’t Have to Be Scary: Claim Your Choices and Your Power!

Transitions Don't Have to Be ScaryIn yesterday’s post we wrote about navigating transitions and staying in your power as you do so.

Remember? Your power lies in your ability to make choices (not in your ability to control things … which is, in fact, an impossibility). 

The more you assist and support yourself, the more you are able to open your heart and your eyes … and evolve.  When you approach transitions this way, far from being scary, they become exciting opportunities to grow!

Transitions: Some Guidelines to Consider

The following guidelines will help you ease the pressure and establish a realistic middle course where you exercise your power to make  positive choices during transitions.

Accept that transitions are challenging and disorienting.

Once you are grounded in acceptance, you can do some very concrete things to help yourself, for example:

  • Schedule in extra time to adjust;
  • Plan on new activities taking longer than expected;
  • Recognize when you feel overwhelmed;
  • Defer decisions (especially big ones) until you regain your equilibrium; and
  • Be sure to provide yourself with ample time to decompress and debrief.

View your new situation with fresh eyes.

Use tools like journaling and list-making to clear your mind and refresh your perspective. Once you’ve done this, you’re better able to identify what is actually within your control, and what you must simply accommodate as best you can. It’s helpful to come back and revisit/revise your assessment periodically. Transitions create new landscapes. It takes time to learn new maps.

Cultivate sensible serenity.

If your expectations of yourself are not realistic, revise them with care and compassion.  Your goal is to create a grounded image of a successful transition. Rather than focusing on any specific destination, simply visualize your process of moving forward.

It’s wise and empowering to frame success in terms of the quality of your choices. This keeps it accessible.  When success is defined as something that lies within your control, that goes a long way toward quieting the undermining voices of self-sabotage and self-criticism.

Working to quiet those voices while cultivating a supportive inner dialogue, allows you to bring the best of what is familiar right along with you as you navigate your transitions. And you can enrich your self-talk even more, with encouraging mantras, examples of prior successes, and realistic questions.

In this way, you make transitions into expansive and empowering times of growth.  Transitions aren’t scary at all … you grow as you go!

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