Maintaining a positive attitude, remaining focused and motivated, and managing your emotions are all very important aspects in making your career transition successful. I will touch on this subject frequently throughout the book. The more you learn to motivate yourself and manage your energy level and attitude, the better. Attending to your emotional and mental needs will help keep you stable during this change and it will better enable you to overcome any obstacles that get in your way. Without doing this, you could end up slowing down your progress or worse—giving up and staying put in your current job because you choose not to face the challenges of making a change. But that’s not what you want. Taking good care of yourself mentally and emotionally will keep you focused on what you seek: a fulfilling new career.
Again, this doesn’t mean you’re going to feel great every step of the way during your transition. Everyone gets emotional, frustrated or unmotivated from time to time. It’s understandable and normal. The key is to learn what to do when you hit that wall so you can take steps to overcome those blocks.
Stop and take a few minutes to reflect on why you started this process in the first place. What is it you wanted to achieve? Reflecting on your strongest initial motivation reconnects you with your goal and reminds you why it was and is exciting to you. This will help you get out of the rut and motivated again.
You can prepare yourself for the potential ups and downs by deciding what activities or commitments you are going to put into place to maintain your mental health and happiness. Just make sure you are doing things you truly enjoy on a regular basis.
Here are a couple of examples:
- Make a commitment to maintain your exercise routine. It will boost your energy and mental state.
- Start a list of things you enjoy that make you happy and commit to doing something on that list once a week, like going to the movies, hanging out with friends, or taking your dog for a walk.
Finally, as a single, sometimes it can take a bit longer to work your way out of those down cycles. Why? Simply because singles don’t always reach out and ask for support when they need it most. Before you embark on your transition, think about who you’ll use for support. You can choose a friend, family member, a professional career coach or even better, a combination of all three. Reach out to them ahead of time and ask for their support. You’re preparing for transition. And, by letting them know in advance, you’re preparing them as well. Remember to keep reaching out to these same people throughout your transition. You’ll be glad you did.
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