When I decided to earn my Certified Professional Coaching certification and accreditation and move from business contributor to business owner, I made a discovery. While reading and researching for a portfolio piece submission, I learned about transitions. What I came to understand was so profound that it impacted my coaching model, my business name, and my coaching approach.

Up until this point, I had viewed career and life transitions as synonymous with change. Throughout my life, regardless of by choice or by circumstance, I didn't take much time to stop, think, assess, or question much beyond my new situation. Instead, I went full force into the new venture and pushed my way to goal attainment. As I faced those transitions, I've now come to recognize that I had opportunities for introspection and course correction that I missed. If I'd understood some critical elements about transitions, I may have experienced more ease, more satisfaction, and more success in my newly acquired circumstance or role. This awareness and understanding have had a deep impact on me and have helped me guide many of my clients.

“Change is different from transition; it is external; it’s what is happening to us. Transition, on the other hand, is internal. It’s an opportunity for growth within.” -William Bridges, Ph.D., Managing Transitions

As Bridges' research uncovered, we must start with the end before we can begin something new. If we don't allow time for reflecting, reassessment and letting go as needed, we'll repeat past experiences and outcomes with much the same results.

I discovered the significance of this in my own life. I made career changes without first assessing my strengths and struggles, patterns and perceptions, values, and vision. This approach left me bringing baggage from one circumstance to the next and, if the same issues followed me, not recognizing that this was an opportunity for growth. I've since learned it's vital that, when facing a transition, we take a personal inventory. We need to determine our "Why." We also need to decide what we want to bring forward to support our goals and then let the rest go. By going through this process, we can recognize our past accomplishments, ascertain what values and strengths we want to bring forward in our next endeavor, and determine what no longer serves as we work toward our vision. 

Taking time to look back on my personal and professional transitions has been invaluable. It's given me clarity around what I want to bring in support of my vision. Making these conscious decisions has been empowering and energizing. As you think about your Retirement and what you want for yourself and for others, you may find this reflection will have an equally positive impact on your path forward.

To sum it up, "Not in his goals but in his transitions man is great." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Conflux Retirement Coaching is about merging the best of who you are with who you want to be. Let’s connect and explore what you’re bringing with you to retirement and how your past transitions have informed your present. Together we’ll then create a plan that moves you purposely toward your vision.