Your Wilderness Journey
Whether their transition was planned or not, wanted or not, the leaders I coach can often feel like they’re in the wilderness. That's because they are.
In “Transitions,” William Bridges observes that transitions have three parts. After learning to detach from where we’ve been, we find ourselves in a new territory that makes it hard to find our bearings.
Our old dreams no longer make any sense, making it difficult to know what we want.
Our routines are disrupted, making it hard to figure out what to do next.
Our roles are new and unfamiliar, making it challenging to know who we are.
Our old skills may not get us as far as they used to, making us feel unproductive.
The wilderness can be so scary and painful, Bridges writes, many of us want to cut the transition short. We can be tempted to avoid the work we need to do.
So we jump back to where we were, returning to the job or relationship we left or our old, tried-and-true ways, simply beause they feel safer than doing something new.
Or we jump forward into new jobs or relationships before we’re ready and end up recreating the mess we just left.
For this reason, Bridges urges us to give ourselves space to step into the uncertainty the wilderness brings. Regardless of how uncomfortable our situation might seem or how urgently we may feel we need to “do something,” we need to pause to get our bearings.
For Bridges, this means dedicating a little time each day to doing nothing at all. We shut off our screens, make a cup of tea, sit or walk alone with our thoughts, and see what comes up. And we need to repeat this ritual—weekly, daily if we can—until we feel we can leave the wilderness behind.
For many of us, shutting off our screens might be panic-inducing, to say the least. But if we can do this, we can learn new skills:
We can get more comfortable with uncertainty.
We can learn to listen to our emotions and bodies.
We can reconnect with the world around us.
We can rediscover what we truly want.
As your coach, I can help you achieve these results and more. Ready to go? Book your free Discovery Session here.
