Transition between different jobs or between different roles within an organization is much harder than you can imagine. All the talks about letting go seem easy, but when the time arrives, transition takes a lot out of a professional. The emotional aspect attached to transition is not easy to comprehend. Many professionals I have interacted with regard their job as their best friend and the thought of letting it go has given them sleepless nights. Leaving a job where you spent multiple years, grew as a professional and made friends at the workplace is especially hard. That being said, letting go of a good opportunity of transition would only dent your career prospects.
Questions to ask before you undertake transition
Whenever I interact with my clients, I urge them to think about what they would want to do if they would have to leave their current job or how it would feel to let go of this job and transition into a new one. Those who aren’t happy at their present job usually imagine that transition would necessarily be a happier experience. Though this may be true, you may still miss certain parts of your job after your transition. Either way, I usually suggest finding answers to three questions before taking up any new opportunity of transition –
- How meaningful would the transition be?
- Would I find happiness after this transition?
- Would I contribute constructively?
Transition into retirement
With an increasing life expectancy, people are now much healthier at the age of 65 than they used to be a couple of decades back. Your hunger for success doesn’t stop all of a sudden after your transition into retirement. If you were an active leader, you should plan for an active post retirement life as well. I have heard many people say they don’t want to do anything after retirement. Rather than making it a life of leisure, they retire from life. Sleeping and waking up late or spending time golfing don’t really hold much allure for long. Some of the happiest retired executives I have interacted with are still doing their bit for the society and themselves. Rather than reflecting on their past, they are still finding meaning in their present and making most of their transition.