Leaving your job can be the most emotional time. It leaves you at a point of confidence and anxiety.
Employees choose to leave their life-long tenured careers for different reasons - some personal, some professional. Which is why some are not prepared for the emotional journey they will encounter when beginning to shift to another job.
Imagine having worked with hundreds of people for over 37 years. Would you find it difficult to ship out? HBR has it that there are three emotinal issues one experiences when transitioning to a different career.
The first emotional block is guilt. The Muse describes the scenario as a sense of worry. The employee feels they are leaving people, or a life, behind in order to pursue new opportunities. Think: "How would the company go on without me? What will my manager do when I'm not around?" HBR advices that you have to be a little bit selfish in order to make that decision. Transitioning to a different job is your choice.
The second emotional challenge is adjusting your personal identity. Gallup has reported that 55% of Americans define themselves according to their work. As you transition, so will you. There will be at ime to adjust your self image and it will be a sensitive time for you. Find a different way to not only describe what you'll be doing but also how you'll feel about it.
The last emotional block is "letting go." It sounds simple enough but hard to do. You will need to let go of old patterns and old habits. Transitioning to another phase in your life means you also need to leave some things behind. It will be your way of coping in a new work environment. It will be tiresome at first because being committed to a routine is essential but you will get the hang of living without it.
Managing these emotions can help you better navigate through your career transition. It is important to always acknowledge them and think carefully about how to address them.
