If you have been through a career transition, you may agree that this can be a very stressful time. How did you get to this point is perhaps irrelevant but what is important is what are you going to do about it? As for many service personnel, you too will be facing the same dilemma of having to pay your bills, your have your spouse and children to support. You will all of a sudden lose your daily work routine and perhaps your work colleague. This is a time where you need to become comfortable being uncomfortable and seize this opportunity to revolutionise yourself.
Let me tell you it is not easy and if you want an easy life more than likely life will become hard, but when you work hard life becomes easy.
I have been doing it for a certain time now, when It was very uncomfortable for me to join the British armed forces, I mean transitioning from a civilian to a military personnel is not easy for most. For me I was used to temperatures of no less than 25 degrees and having to train in minus 5 in Catterick in the middle of winter was enough to put anyone off joining the military. What I learnt back then was the core idea of being comfortable being uncomfortable. You see once you start to see yourself comfortable with the unknown, you actually start to enjoy what you are doing and this helps you to discover yourself, discovering your strengths and your weaknesses.
Here are 5 things you should be doing to become more comfortable with discomfort:
1. Network effectively
Meeting new people that are unknown to you can really make you uncomfortable, as we move into more and more social space, the need for human connection is becoming more and more important for both your emotional being and your mental being.
‘Leaders who communicate are commendable, but those who connect are powerful.’
2. Develop a growth mindset
The future will favour those who can have a ‘real openness and willingness to learn from others’. Candice Morgan, head of diversity and inclusion at Pinterest, facilitates conversations that prompt ideas from new places. Morgan’s view: ‘We will win by being the ones who learn most quickly and adapt most quickly’.
3. Mindset
Remember the mind often plans based on what it knows, if it doesn’t know something, it naturally holds you back. I have seen this example in many people who perhaps could do well in business but who just at the time of a breakthrough give up.
4. Self-aware
Becoming self-aware allows us to understand ourselves as unique individuals, beyond the roles we play with friends and family or in society. Being self-aware means understanding who you are underneath it all: your patterns of behaviour, strengths and weaknesses.
5. Relationships
Don’t burn bridges. Everything you do is based on building and maintaining strong relationships. Relationships you build now will be with you for a lifetime. It’s amazing how many people I worked with 20 years ago are still part of my network.
Samuel T. Reddy
Entrepreneur/Author /Speaker & Advisor
www.SamuelTReddy.com
Twitter:https://www.twitter.com/samueltreddy
The above is an excerpt from my book -Leavers 2 Leaders: 7 steps to revolutionise yourself while in transition.
