Boots-to-Suits.com

Some people find changes exhilarating; some people experience the uncertainty of transition as terrifying.  But the underlying question is when do you know it is time to change?  The end of one career may begin with feelings of uneasiness or frustration, even depression.  If you are like many, you’ve thought about what it might be like to have “something better.”

So you’ve had a successful career in the military, but now you are making a career transition that has major life-changing implications for you and those close to you..  This is probably unlike any transition you have ever experienced before and will you will likely never experience it again.  Your transition need not be turbulent or dramatic. If you are reading this blog, you have taken a step toward a future designed by wants, summoned by courage to embark on your dream.

Change can be scary.  Change can be stressful.  Your opposing needs are at war – one fighting for the security of the military life you know, and the other for the freedom to choose a career that might be better.  Life’s transitions begin with a series of questions, the answers to which help you develop a method to shaping your future:

• What do you want to do with the rest of your life?
• Are you leaving the military for greener pastures?
• How well prepared are you for the job market?
• Do you know how to communicate your qualifications to civilian employers?

Every person struggling with these questions is limited by fear or lack of information. Don’t worry, you share common and understandable fears with many others.  Ask yourself:

What are my three most pressing concerns about transitioning?

Write them down.  Your goal is to use the victories of your past to neutralize these fears and sculpt the triumphs of tomorrow.

Most people have the wrong idea when it comes to failure.  Do you know how many times a baby falls before she takes her first step?  Are her first attempts “failures”?  Of course not.  She certainly doesn’t think so; she gets up and tries again!

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” – Thomas Edison

We can reframe the concept of failure into something more like a lesson, and succeed.  The fear of failure can be so constricting you lose confidence and the ability to take risks – you must possess both qualities to make a successful transition.  Using the concerns you identified above, ask questions relating to those fears.

• What is the worst that can happen?
• How likely is it the worst thing will happen?
• How would I solve that problem?
• What steps could I take to prevent that from happening?
• What is the best that can happen?
• How will I feel about myself if the best happens?
• What steps could I take to ensure that happens?
• If I look back on my life 10 years from now, I will be glad I…

Changes are about skill, timing, and the latest strategies.  Mental focus, passionate motivation and trust we never knew we had are key.  There may be temporary sacrifice followed by triumph.  What are successful risks you have already taken in your life?  What attitudes and emotions do they have in common?

Fear may be at your back door, but you don’t have to let it in.  You’ve conquered risks before.  You have what it takes to succeed.  What waits on the other side of apprehension and procrastination is the indescribable joy of being in the right place, doing the right job at the right time.

The time is now!

Popularity: 6% [?]