End of Career Transition: The Process, Purpose and Benefits
Stability Amidst Change - 2010
The Teton Range
Grand Teton National Park, WY
Summary:
Your Transition Is a Stimulus for Personal Development and Fulfillment
There are two words that are sometimes used interchangeably when discussing the End of Career as though they have the same meaning: change and transition. However, these two words have different meanings and what they describe have distinctly different purposes.
Lessons Learned in My Journey
My personal experience with change and transition illustrates this point. Years ago, I was diagnosed with colon cancer and then developed other medical problems. Together they created a change that ended my Plastic Surgery career and triggered my End of Career Transition. Thankfully, years later I am cured, renewed and fulfilled in my new career.
My transition did not occur spontaneously. It was the result of sustained, focused and deliberate effort over a period of time. That effort was directed at a particular envisioned outcome: to achieve renewal and experience fulfillment. The means for achieving that outcome was the process of the End of Career Transition itself.
This illustrates the very purpose of a transition: to effectively manage a major life event and create a new life experience based on your ongoing personal development.
Types of Transition and Preparation
Developmental Transition: you are the source of the planned change for whatever personal and/or professional reasons.
Reactive Transition: is precipitated by a sudden, perhaps unexpected change.
With either type, you will find yourself immersed in the process of Transition.
I am often asked: “What if I am faced with a sudden, reactive Transition?”
I know that the best way to prepare for the unknown is to prepare for that which is known. That is, to plan and prepare for a developmental transition based on the facts at hand. If it becomes necessary, your can adjust your plans as needed.
The transition process really begins when you begin to envision your End of Career, often years in advance. There are a myriad of concerns that can preoccupy you. So, the best way to deal with it, is to be proactive.
It really pays to plan for an elective, developmental transition.
Hope it's not a plan, it simply does not work.
The Transition Phases That We Experience
The personal evolution that most people experience consists of three phases that are common to both types of Transition:
The first is your acceptance of the change that has taken place…your loss, what has ended.
The second is a period of personal reflection and reorientation…a time and opportunity for creativity.
The third is your acceptance of your new beginning…your sense of loss will diminish as you enjoy your new life.
Your Transition and Its Purposes
- To develop an objective understanding of your circumstances.
- To accept your loss and experience a healthy form of the resulting grief.
- To experience personal and spiritual development.
- To reaffirm your sense of character.
- To dream and be creative.
- To rejoice in your renewal and fulfillment.
Plan Your Course and Summon Your Navigation Skills
Muster your confidence and strengthen it.
Rally your personal and professional skills.
Call upon your knowledge, experience and wisdom.
Your Vision, Your Reality
So it is, that at this point in your life, you are ever more capable of overcoming the challenges associated with your End of Career Transition TM . One skill, among others, stands out: your ability to develop a realistic vision for yourself, your family and to summon the courage to create a reality based on that vision.
I believe that to achieve your successful Transition you must summon three attributes that are uniquely yours:
Clarity of Identity, Conviction of Purpose and the Courage to express it.
I know you can do so.
Updated August 20, 2022
PS: By the way, do you want to learn more about how to prepare yourself and your practice for a fulfilling End of Career Transition and life beyond? I would like to help you. I provide consulting/coaching services that are tailored to your specific needs. Click here to request a complimentary introductory conversation.
The Teton Range and Snake River - 2010
Grand Teton National Park, WY
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