Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes

by William Bridges

2. What is the developmental context of this work life transition? If you had to put into words the personal and career issues that you are dealing with at this point in your life, what would they be? If you had to give a title to the chapter of your work life that is drawing to a close, what would it be? And how about a title for this transitional introduction you are in now—what could it be called? And then—although this is hard, I know—what is the title of the next chapter of your work life? Oh, I know that you don’t know! If you did, you wouldn’t be reading this book, would you? Sure . . . sure. But consider the possibility that at some level you already know what you need to do next. Not “need” in the sense of “it would be good for you,” but “need” in the sense of what has to happen so that you can take the next step in your life. You probably think that you don’t know what the next chapter of your work life is called, but that may not be true. You may just have mis-filed the information when you received it. You put it in the file marked “A Dream I Recently Had,” or “A Crazy Idea I Just Know Wouldn’t Work . . . But That Fascinates Me,” or “The Books I’ve Found Myself Reading Recently.”