Life on Planet Earth is never standing still. And now more than ever, our lives are subject to internal and external change and transitions. If the COVID-19 lockdowns taught us anything, it is that life can change in a moment. With more pandemics tipped to be on their way, so-called natural disasters happening all over the planet and the rise of AI threatening jobs across a range of industries, what can we do to be prepared and manage these multi-factorial changes and transitions?
The first thing to accept is that change happens. If you’re in constant denial that your life will never change and that you have a job for life that is secure, think again. The best approach is to accept that change happens and be prepared to know how to take the appropriate action that will place you in the best position to come to the over side of it favourably and healthily. It is stressful enough to deal with sudden change, but if it takes you by surprise, that is another level of stress you need to deal with.
Be prepared.
Expect chaos.
See change, chance and complexity as an opportunity for yourself to embrace the next stage of your life. This is the crux of the Chaos Theory of Career by Pryor and Bright (2011). I really resonate with this theory as I’ve had to navigate a lot of ‘chaos’ because of chronic illness and disability, that went undiagnosed and thus unmanaged for two decades. It was a lot, but it embedded deep within the core of my being, that we should always try to navigate unexpected and ambiguous situations and make the best out of them.
The following are a few key things you can do to prepare for chaos:
1. Have a couple of contingency plans up your sleeve. Whether it’s first aid kits and having an evacuation plan for bushfires or floods, the best time to get ready is now, before an emergency happens.
2. In terms of career planning, depending on where you are at (age, circumstances, systems barriers and personal challenges) start to be proactive with looking for career opportunities.
3. Increase your ‘luck’ by taking more actions on a regular basis. These can be building your personal brand, effective and efficient networking and communicating to your existing network that you are looking for new career/job opportunities.
4. Skill-up: enrol in short courses on topics you are interested in, in preparation for a potential career transition.
5. Book a session with a professional career counsellor (like me!) to facilitate your process of adopting a change-ready mindset and to make a plan to navigate your next career transition.
Adopting a change is exciting mentality instead of change is scary one, can also be a useful first step in priming your mind to look at change in a positive way. As a person who loves their routines and needs them to regulate my nervous system, I understand it’s not easy to be okay with change and it may take time and some dedication to adapt your mindset to be a change-lover. I’ve found that both can exist at the same time: I can love my existing routines and lifestyle whilst being open to new opportunities and new ways of doing things and new perspectives.
I’d love to know what you think about this. Please send me an email or comment on my LinkedIn or Instagram posts. I can’t activate comments on the blog posts unfortunately because of high level of spam that I don’t have time to moderate.
I’ll leave you with an activity to reflect on:
Think about one aspect of life or one situation in your life that might potentially change in future.
1. Write about it factually and objectively in a few sentences.
2. Then, write about how it makes you feel.
3. Come up with 5 action steps you could take about this issue to prepare for this potential change.
4. Notice how you feel once you have done these 5 steps.
Again, if you do this activity, feel free to share how you went.
Wishing you a powerful and purposeful day ahead!
To your success!
Kory