Navigating the Odd Uneven Times of Change
“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”
―Sylvia Plath
It’s that time of year again - the changing of the seasons.
You may be making the transition from summer vacation mode to back-to-school ready. Or maybe you’re getting ready for the quiet mid-year lull with half day Fridays and empty inboxes to make way for the stacked calendars and working lunches of your Q4 push.
The August into September threshold is by no means the only change of seasons we experience throughout our time on this earth. There are seasons of life, seasons of grief, seasons of accomplishment, and seasons of loss. We enter into some seasons without knowing when they will ultimately complete. And it can be hard to say goodbye to some seasons, wondering if they will ever return in the future.
The way I see it, gracefully navigating times of transition requires both clarity and openness. Attempting to force the change we want, when we want it, exactly as we want it may be tempting, but ultimately proves to be a costly and unrealistic endeavor.
I have found it more helpful to head into any sea of change consciously armed with the tools and skills most suited to catching the wave of my dreams.
Does this approach guarantee that the perfect wave will come? No. But in the event that it does come, I know that I have done everything possible to make the most of it.
And isn’t this exactly why transitions feel so hard? They highlight all of the areas where we wish we had control, but really don’t. They make us see all of the things we wish we knew, but have no way of knowing.
This can feel wildly uncomfortable to realize. But beyond on the discomfort is a productive pathway ahead.
Learn to focus on the things you can control and the things you do know. Focus less on the end goal and more on which steps today will get you closer to that goal.
In the end, it’s all we can do. And while it may not seem like a lot at first, when you start to engage with change in this way, you inevitably start to see how powerful you really are.
Learn It
3-minute read
Sometimes it is our approach to goals that keeps us stuck rather than adapting with agility. In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear outlines the shortcomings of goals and makes his case for the resilient nature of a systems. Read the excerpt here.
Know It
15-minute prompt
If you want more insight into how you are uniquely equipped to navigate times of uncertainty, here is an inquiry for your consideration:
When you look back at your life up until this point, what is a quality you possess that has served you well throughout different time periods of your life? How exactly has it served you? When you look ahead to an upcoming season, how might this quality that has served you in the past continue to serve you in the future - in both old and new ways?
Live It
7-day process
If you want to powerfully prepare for your next season of change, and you are able to commit to daily action for one week, this step-by-step workbook will support you in developing a deeper level of confident leadership.