Fight the "loss" mindset 💭

“I just feel like, who am I to have anxiety?” I said the other day to a longtime colleague and friend.

She immediately replied, “Who are you not to have anxiety?”

My jaw almost hit the floor. What she did in that moment was completely flip my perspective, from having to deal with an unwanted problem to accepting a challenge that was not only reasonable to have, but even likely. Today I’d like to do the same for you when it comes to tough moments in your career.

We are not trained to think of career transitions as acceptable (and expectable) challenges. Even the language we use to describe these moments points to what is missing: “losing” or “out of” a job, “hunting” and “searching” for the next one.

Even if you're still employed, not knowing where you could head next in your career – whether it's finding a new job or finding growth opportunities at your current workplace – can be tough to handle.

It’s strikingly different from the approach we take to other life transitions. Expecting a child? You can easily pick up a “What To Expect” book that walks you through everything you’ll need to know over those nine months (and beyond). Buying a house? All sorts of checklists and resources are at the ready, from your first Zillow search to the moment you’re handed the keys.

But “out of” a job, or trying to figure out what could be next? That’s where instead of welcoming a step-by-step process, we get sympathy and less-than-helpful vague advice. “Try networking” and “treat applying like your job” are fine, but they don’t have the same comforting step-by-step progression as putting together a baby registry or checking out comparable property listings.

To be clear, I don’t expect anyone to welcome a tough career moment with sparklers and confetti. I simply believe that we deserve better training and support around moments of transition.

The way we talk about career transitions reflects what we’ve been taught — that this is a loss to grieve, instead of a normal process to follow.

Instead, we can expect to have both moments where we're employing our skills at a job, when we have clarity on our careers and where we can head, and moments where we're experimenting to see what could be possible next. There's no loss, no lack – just the recognition that we can adapt to the situation we find ourselves in.

That step-by-step process for navigating moments of career uncertainty is exactly what I've been uncovering with the Career River. I'll keep sharing those resources in this newsletter, including an upcoming opportunity to get together on a Community Call next month to talk through the Job Hunt Pathfinder (stay tuned for more!).

In the meantime, though, I want to offer the same clear-eyed advice my friend gave me. When it comes to moments of career uncertainty, don't ask yourself: "Who am I to be unclear on my career?"

Ask: "Who am I not to explore what's possible?"

Happy navigating,
Bridget