Page 199 - Talane Miedaner - Coach Yourself to a New Career_ 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life (2010)

STEP 7: MANAGING THE TRANSITION SMOOTHLY 187

right until you actually try it. Listen to the cues around you, to
what your body and mind are trying to tell you, to your hopes as
well as your fears, and you’ll soon find the way.

Let Your Body Lead the Way

Now that you’ve learned several important factors to weigh during
your career transition, such as the status of your financial reserves
and the skill set you’ll need, other pertinent considerations should
be addressed, including what your body is telling you and what
the cues around you indicate. It always behooves you to listen to
your body—your body gives you signals about how you really feel
about your current job or career.
Returning to an earlier example, when I was working at Chase
managing a financial center in downtown Manhattan, I used to
walk the hour it took to get to work instead of riding the subway. I
figured that it supposedly took only thirty minutes on the subway,
but if the train got stuck somewhere, it
would take about forty-five minutes, so
I had to realistically allocate forty-five My grandmother
minutes commuting time. Thus, for started walking five
an extra fifteen minutes, I traded the miles a day when she
rather unpleasant experience of being was sixty. She’s ninety-
squeezed into a hot and sweaty train for five now, and we don’t
a brisk and beneficial hour-long walk. know where the hell
This was my built-in exercise program she is.
as well, and it kept me fit. However, this
entire time, my body was telling me —ELLEN DEGENERES
that it didn’t want me to go to work. I
would be walking along, and all of the
sudden my back would seize up, and I wouldn’t be able to take a
step. As the problem persisted, I went to a chiropractor for treat-
ment two to three times a week. My body was trying to stop me
from going to work at the bank, but I went on slogging it out while
saving up money so I could quit with two years’ reserve in place.