Facing a Transition?
Will you be facing a transition in the near future? Perhaps a new job, a treatment plan for a recent diagnosis, or welcoming your baby into the world? The transition I am about to experience involves my oldest child starting college very soon. In a different city. Freshman year. We’ll be loading up the family SUV with everything she will need (and probably more!) to drive her to the university, help her move in, and then drive home to what will be a new family arrangement.
Setting yourself up for transitions before they occur will provide you with the greatest likelihood to successfully navigate those transitions. The following are a few strategies I teach my clients who want to grow in this particular area. Chances are I will be practicing them myself in the near future prior to taking my daughter to begin college!
1) Plan Ahead: The more prepared you are, the more you’ll be able to enjoy a clear, relaxed state of mind. In my example, we have a table set-up in the house with all of the items that will be loaded into the SUV prior to the drive. That way, we will know where everything is when that time comes and stress will be minimized.
2) Practice Positive Visualization: This strategy is directly tied to the mindset work I help people with. In short, visualization is the act of intentionally thinking about the outcome you want. It is not fictional or unrealistic. Instead, positive visualization has everything to do with keeping in mind a best case scenario because we tend to become what we think about (metacognition). So, for me I will be thinking about how how my daughter is ready for this, and how I know she is going to thrive in a college environment away from home. It’s what’s best for her, and we will all adapt.
3) Seek the Support of Others: You don’t have to go this alone. Reach out to family and friends who can lend an ear, and maybe even empathize with you. Empathy, as opposed to sympathy, is the ability of someone to relate because they’ve been there before. In my case, I am connected to people who have already transitioned or are now transitioning their kids to college. Sometimes just knowing others are doing the same thing can make a world of difference.
All the Best,
Chuck
