Page 201 - Talane Miedaner - Coach Yourself to a New Career_ 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life (2010)

STEP 7: MANAGING THE TRANSITION SMOOTHLY 189

called “hot and cold.” In my family’s version, every year at Easter
our bunny would hide pennies all over the house as well as an
Easter basket for my sisters and me. If hours passed and we still
couldn’t find our basket, our parents would play “hot and cold”
with us. The farther away from the bas-
ket we walked, the “cooler” it got, and
my parents would say, “You are getting In no other period
cold now . . . you are starting to freeze.” of history were the
As we turned in the right direction, it learned so mistrustful
was, “You are getting warm . . . now you of the divine
are getting really warm . . . you are boil- possibilities in man as
ing!” That’s how we found the basket. they are now.
Get in the habit of taking cues from
your present circumstances—kind of —GOPI KRISHNA
like playing this “hot and cold” game.
If you are miserable and catch your-
self having random negative thoughts, such as that getting hit by
a bus and spending a month in traction would be preferable to
going to your job, essentially this cue is telling you that you are
on the wrong path in life. Alternatively, when you are on the right
path, things start to heat up: your pulse beats a little faster, you
feel excited, your ears prick up—that is a good sign that you are
pointed toward the right target! And once you find your meta-
phorical “basket,” you can sit down and enjoy the contents. Life
gets much easier when we are on the right path!

Reinvent Your Fears—Facing Uncertainty
Can Lead to Your Plan B

If you have been following the steps in this program, you won’t
really have a huge issue with fear, but your lingering fear of change
and lifestyle shifts during this transition time can still affect your
decision making. I remember once a seminar leader asked every-
one in the room who didn’t love his or her work to stand up. At
the time, I was working at the bank, so I stood up right away along
with a bevy of others. Then he challenged us: “Quit your job today