How to Know When to Go

Been working in a certain area for a long time? Ready to move into newer territory? I hear ya! But how do you know when it’s truly time to go? Listening to these signals can make your SHIFT easier and smoother … and enable you to make your transition in style.

Pay Attention to Your Discomfort:
Chances are you have wanted to make a SHIFT for a while and have been sweeping your uncomfortable feelings under the rug – hoping they might go away or you’ll somehow be saved from having to actually do something. While this can certainly work for the short-term, it’ll backfire on you eventually.

Your discomfort is there for a reason … it’s telling you that you are ready for your next level of development and evolution. If you don’t listen to it, it’ll up the ante and turn up the volume – with results like frustrated outbursts, negative incidences or even health concerns. Do yourself a favor — acknowledge how you really feel about your situation (be it personal or professional) and realize that your feelings are your friend not your enemy.

Use the Negative to Get Clear About What You Really Want:
Negative situations are blessings in disguise. They are the universe’s method of getting us to bust through to our next level. If we use them properly, they can clearly and concisely point us towards what we do want. Don’t stop short when you have outgrown your current existence. Use your discomfort as a springboard.

For example, a few years back when I was increasingly feeling discomfort at facilitating corporate and not-for-profit strategic planning retreats I used my pain to help me get clear about what I did want. If I didn’t want long hours, lots of travel, sort of toxic groups, and negativity —- what did it tell me about what I did want? I FLIPPED IT … it told me that I wanted humane and flexible hours, clients traveling to me (or working virtually), healthy and functioning individuals, couples or business partners and lots of positive emotions and joy.

Focus on What You Do Want:
You’ll never get anywhere focused on what doesn’t feel good and what you don’t want. You have to use the initial negativity to help you get clear … then do your very best to hardly focus on the negative past or uncomfortable present again. Once you’ve got your new sights set, you need to put your attention there – constantly, repeatedly, almost obsessively (but not so obsessively that you start feeling bad).

Do visions boards, collages, virtual reality and scripting exercises … anything that gets you off of what is, onto what you want to be. Hang around with people who already there (even if the only access you have to them is reading about them!). You’ve got to FEEL your new reality. Grock in it. Marinate. Ooze it. The more you do this then the more you will start identifying yourself with the new you as opposed to the old you. And the more things will subtly (and sometimes shockingly) shift in your outer world to reflect your new vibe.

Yes, You Are Going to Have to Take Action (and probably a lot!):
I’ve manifested that vision that was born out of my frustrating corporate work from a few years back. It is now my reality. I have humane and flexible hours (most of the time … the problem now is I’ve become a little too wanted one-to-one), clients travel to me and I work virtually as well, and my clientele are individuals now not unhappy groups. And my work is all about the positive and increasing joy and happiness. It’s a dream come true.

But I didn’t just dream it. I took actions. Lots and lots of little and consistent actions that added up. When I lined up with my vision … ideas and inspirations came to me. And I acted on them (even when I was scared and unsure … and that was a lot!). I found people to help me. I invested in needed training and coaching. I took risks. I went for it. I believed in myself (and loved myself!) deep, deep down (the only place where it really counts).

It’s An Ongoing Process of Discomfort, Alignment and Discomfort Again:
I now feel new rumblings of discomfort and that is ok. I’ve realized that that is just the way life works. We get disgruntled, we use that to figure out what we do want, we align with what we want and we take inspired action. It eventually manifests (in some form or other), then the process starts over again — maybe not as cleanly as all that, but more or less. Being ok with life being an ongoing evolutionary process really softens things. And the softer you can be about things, the easier they get!

© 2008 Christina L. Merkley

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:

Christina Merkley, “The SHIFT-IT Coach” and creator of the SHIFT-IT Method® is a Visioning and Strategic Planning Expert specializing in Graphic Facilitation and Law of Attraction techniques. Based in charming Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, she works deeply with individuals, partners and groups in defining and getting what they really, really want. For more information visit: www.shift-it-coach.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *