March Forward

Okay, a show of hands – How many of you feel that March is the ficklest month of the year? I do! To me, the weather here in the Northeast is a BIG reason I feel that way. For example, one day it can be sunny and near 60 degrees. But the very next day can be a snowy, blustery, cold day not even getting out of the 20’s! It’s as though throughout the month of March there is a constant transitional dance between winter weather and spring. Sometimes I think Mother Nature is just having fun with us! She loves to see us basking in the sunshine, enjoying the much-missed warmth. Conversely, she laughs at us as we hunker down in our winter coats trying to barrel our way through another winter day. Do you see any similarities between the extreme swings of March weather (in New England) and the way a transition happens in your life? Do you feel like when you start to march forward it’s like a spring day, but then within a very short timeframe, something happens, and you feel like you are right smack back in winter? For example, there were many times in my former career in technology when I would decide that I really needed to move into a different field. I would do some research, talk to some people and get some ideas about what I thought I wanted to do. I would feel like I was marching forward, almost like heading into spring. Then, whooooosh, I’d convince myself I couldn’t make a change, or that people would think I was crazy to change careers, etc. It was almost as though I was thrown back into winter all over again! I’m not proud of this, but I have to tell you, this one step forward, two steps back situation happened many times. Has it ever happened to you? Once in a great while, March can be a steadier progression into spring. As one of the sayings states – ‘In like a lion, out like a lamb’. The month starts out with typical winter weather and slowly but surely, each day is a little warmer and sunnier, and by the end of the month we’ve entered into spring! Some transitions are like this, too. My transition into coaching happened like that! I was definitely in ‘winter mode’ in my job situation at the time. I was eager and motivated to make a change. By steadily going through a program with my coach to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, I discovered I wanted to be a coach. But this breakthrough wasn’t quite spring, yet; however, the skies were a bit sunnier and it wasn’t bitter cold any longer. I knew I had more work to do. I needed to uncover important information about the coaching field, what I needed to do to become a coach and what it would be like to run my own company. The good news this time was I was marching forward and not being thrown back into winter! After completing an intensive coach training program (with homework galore!), I KNEW spring was just around the corner! As I designed my transition plan, I could feel my dissatisfaction melting and it was being replaced with clear, blue, sunnier skies – I was ready and thrilled to continue to march forward! It was finally spring! As you can see, transitions, just like the month of March, really can come in a variety of forms. Trusting that as you go through the transition, spring is just around the corner can help keep you engaged, motivated and hopeful, even if you encounter more winter weather along the way. Happy spring!