You’re on the brink of involuntary change, and the anxiety that comes with the change. Navigate it with a bridge to change.
We’re all in transition. For the past 10 years and up until the COVID pandemic in 2020 I’d been providing strategic communication and change solutions mostly to large government agencies, colleges and universities. I helped employees navigate technological changes and changes to business processes. Their great concerns were things like, “How will I do my job after this change?” But with COVID those concerns became, “Will I still have a job with this change?” “If my small business doesn’t survive how do I start over? and “How do I make ends meet?”
The support I want to offer certainly should not replace the care and guidance prescribed and offered by your doctors and license professionals, but I am a certified change practitioner who will be both your coach and cheerleader, offering real change solutions and encouragement along your path to professional fulfillment and solid financial footing.
The baby boomer who fears he or she is aging out of the workforce is asking, “Will I be able to get a job?” as is the returning citizen recently released from prison, the person now battling depression or trauma of the hardships brought on by the pandemic, and the recent graduate who’s now up against stiff competition to stand out and be recognized. All the while, the parent of a young school-aged child is finding her or himself making the tough decision of declining a job offer because their child will be left home alone. If you have a similar hardship I am now compelled to support you in this transition.
Motivational speaker, Dr. Willie Jolley says, you should “turn your setback into a comeback.”
Owning your hardship and leaning into the change can be hard, but it will be your first step in walking confidently and courageous into change. Acknowledging your truth gives voice to the reality, trauma or even guilt that you would have ordinarily suppressed or omitted in the traditional hiring process. But within the tribe that will become your community and customer base it makes you relatable and shines light on authenticity–not flaws. People will flock to you because you are credible, you are relatable, and your personality shines through as you engage with your tribe.
Whether it’s a career change, financial challenges, or a change needed to improve your life or lifestyle–think of the change process as building a bridge–a strong and resilient bridge between the life you know and the life that will be. Build your bridge–your bridge to confidence, your bridge to change. Every bridge must have an anchor, the structure, and sustainability. Build your confidence bridge on a foundation of financial security.
The Anchor
Just as it is seen in the social sciences as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and in the spiritual realm as the Root Chakra: one does not fully grow and progress until his or her root is stable. Your confidence in the changes to come must be anchored in security and stability. Identify what it is that will stabilize you and anchor yourself. How much (or how little) do you need to truly feel secure? Whether it’s a career change, financial challenges, or a change needed to improve your life or lifestyle, you are more likely to embrace the change when you see that there is security and stability on the other side. Once there is an anchor, there can be a structure.
The Structure
The structure is the bridge itself–the bridge as the solution to your challenges. See yourself in the solution, and structure your life and lifestyle around the the state of your life today. Let go of what was so that you can rebuild on what is. What some people see as having to downsize their life and lifestyle, I see as “right-sizing”.
Sustainability
Then there is the third and final component of your change bridge: the chains that sustain and firmly hold your change bridge in place, and guide your path from point A to point B. Let your bridge lead you; stay the course, maintaining your life and lifestyle around this change. If you’ve “right-sized” this might mean adjusting to a new budget and lifestyle. If change has taken you into a new environment this might mean creating an entirely new sense of community and a system that supports this new life. If you’re considering entrepreneurship that means creating viable products or services that generate enough of an income to sustain you.
So congratulations. (Yes, congratulations are in order.) You are about to take on a tremendous challenge and you’ve already decided you’re going to win. Anyone who has been the victorious underdog can tell you, it feels good to be the underdog once you realize you’re about to prove everyone wrong and win. You’re scared, sure, because you’ve sized up your opponent! Change is your opponent, and sometimes it’s big. But embrace being the underdog that’s about to win!
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