Embracing Career Transitions: Finding Comfort in the Void
As a therapeutic coach who works with many clients navigating career changes or transitions or on much-needed career breaks after experiencing burnout in misaligned careers, I often hear about the discomfort people feel when they’re ‘not doing anything’ during the in-between space of transition.
For the first time in their lives, they’re not distracted and have the opportunity to discover and understand who they are beyond social and societal conditioning and pressures. This is HUGE — most adults never have the chance to slow down, reassess, reevaluate, and restructure their lives.
The Irony of Newfound Freedom
Now, they have time, space, and energy — the very things they craved while in those demanding positions they recently left behind. Ironically, though, when this new pace, freedom, and vitality arrive, instead of making the most of it, people tend to go into a bit of a panic. Socially ingrained thoughts or beliefs begin to arise; you know the ones:
💭 “What will people think?”
💭 “What am I going to do?”
💭 “Am I lazy? Crazy?”
💭 “What about the future?”
💭 “How do I explain what I do all day?”
💭 “Am I falling behind?”
💭 “Am I wasting my time?”
💭 “Why does it seem like everyone else knows what they want and who they are?”
💭 “What if I fail?”
The Rush to Fill the Void
And just like that, we often rush to immediately fill the newfound time and space, exhausting ourselves by trying to remain ‘productive’ without truly knowing what we want. This void space, where it’s just us, can feel selfish, boring, or uncomfortable, even if we’re unsure why. Some find it so daunting, that they end up avoiding self-discovery to sidestep the uncertainty that arises when we spend time alone.
To navigate the uncertainty and discomfort of major life transitions, we need to confront these internal thoughts and feelings directly instead of distracting ourselves with external busyness. Addressing judgmental thoughts requires sitting with them, observing their triggers, understanding their impact on our decisions, exploring their origins, and assessing their relevance to our actions and behaviours. This process helps us determine whether these thoughts align with our growth, or if they are keeping us stuck in the safety of a comfort zone we’ve outgrown. This is the journey that therapeutic coaching guides individuals through, providing support and guidance during disorienting times of change.
Embracing the Messiness of Growth
If you find yourself navigating the void of a major career and/or life transition, please understand that the discomfort along your path is very likely a sign that you’re breaking through your current glass ceiling. Allow the glass to shatter—it may create a mess and you might get hurt along the way, but birthing a new version of yourself is a messy process! Trust the mess and trust YOUR process that unfolds out of it.
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