4 Tips for Dealing with Big Transitions
Dear Reader,
You might have noticed that I’m launching a book next month (June 17th), which is exactly 34 days from today (wow!). I’ve leapt from the tea and grocery store world to the writing and publishing world–very different! I was a great marketer when I led the tea company, because I was selling a mission to end poverty for tea workers–it was easy to push the envelope every day for such a big cause. But, selling a book I wrote (with the help of a kick-ass village) means I have gone from “selling tea to selling me.” Gulp. Which has been uncomfortable, and has forced me to examine my self-worth, confidence, courage and stamina (or lack thereof). Switching careers at 39 has been invigorating, terrifying, and exhilarating, and for any of you thinking of making a leap, I’m going to share some of my most hard-won tips with you on big transitions and how we can learn to navigate them.
#1 Career as identity: Becoming an author means that I have switched from being a tea purveyor to an idea purveyor. This hasn’t been easy, and I’m sure I’ll be purveying tea again soon, but so much of my identity was stuck in the tea and grocery industry that I felt lost for much of the last year as I pulled back from it and stepped into the realm of publishing. Writing takes total immersion, and as I rewrote my manuscript over and over to perfect it, I also rewrote my self into a new light. I kept a journal through the process and looking back, see how important it was to make the change and how it built up my confidence that I am not my career, I am a woman who has a career and can change it at any time. Repeat after me, “I am not my career,” there, we said it.
#2 Some People Will Never Get Your Worth: As I was transitioning, I was grasping at straws. I wanted the tea company to come begging for me to come back, but they never even called. I wanted someone to arrive in a carriage and sweep me into the realm of safety as if I was waiting for my knight in shining career strategy to guide me and make my career make sense. No one could. My family and friends spent endless nights listening to me weep and wonder how I would go from the known to the unknown. I had always taught them it was safe to take a leap, and yet there I was, tortured over my own leap. I found my true friends through this dark night, and now that my career is clear, and writing has shown itself to me as destiny, I am still holding their hands and loving their generous souls. I realized, as you will, that some people will never get your worth, so stop waiting for them to call and focus on the people who are there with you now. Those that are there are those that care.
#3 Be Compassionate: This sounds very cliche, I know, but it needs to be aimed toward yourself. Being compassionate toward myself has taught me that no matter what happens, no matter where I land, no matter who buys the book or who doesn’t, it will all be perfect as long as I remain compassionate. Compassion cures everything. I use this mantra when I am beating myself up: May I be guided by God’s love, may I be the embodiment of compassion for myself and all sentient beings. Remember that you deserve the same love you give others.
#4 It’s all inspiration: When I was selling the mission of the tea company, I inspired people to join my cause. And now that I am selling a book filled with my lessons, stories and personal rules for success, I am inspiring my readers to live in their potential, love with all their hearts and redefine success for themselves with a pure heart to serve others. As long as I keep my sights on serving the souls and wellbeing of others, I could be selling tea, books, or widgets and it wouldn’t matter- inspiration is inspiration, and that is what we are here for–to inspire one another.
I’m sending you all love and a heartfelt wish that you will be compassionate toward yourself during times of transition, and please let me know if you have any questions, I will gladly answer them in the comment section below.
With Love,
Zhena
