Establish some key anchor points to keep yourself grounded

Major shifts and transitions are inevitable in most organizations, and in my work with clients and teams, I find that these moments have the incredible power to leave people feeling disoriented and disrupted.

Perhaps you can relate:

* How do you respond to the promotion that's a welcome career advance, but leaves you supervising people who used to be your peers?

* How do you react when your organization undergoes a major restructuring, absorbs another company, redefines its mission, or launches a major, new initiative?

*How do you find stability in the midst or aftermath of change, transition, and confusion?

My goal for my clients after they've been through a particularly stressful time is to help them tune into themselves - their emotions and experiences within the context of their greater lives, such as family and community - so they can discern their own needs and do some self-care. While everything is shifting and changing, it's important to be clear about what's most important and find connections to what we value most. Transitions leave all of us feeling disoriented and we each benefit from relying on key anchor points to provide stability and perspective through turbulent waters.

We all can benefit from stopping the action long enough to assess what has happened and what happens next.

Here are some anchor points that might help you if you've just experienced a major shift or transition - or if one (or more) is looming.

1) Set aside time to spend with family

I see family as a place to let down your guard, to be nurtured, to love and be loved. You can be yourself, flaws and all. Part of what gets triggered during times of transition is an overarching uncertainty that extends into our whole life. Being with the people who accept us no matter what can ground us in an unshakable place of acceptance and worth.

2) Get away from the busy life to spend time with nature

This might be a place of calm, or it might be an active outdoor adventure - whatever the place or activity, spend time away from the office, the home, or other places with artificial light, man-made sounds and "walls."

3) Make time for quiet reflection

Keeping a personal journal is a great place to start. In essence, reflection is really just having conversations with yourself. A journal gives you a place to capture your thoughts about the experience, the emotions this event has triggered, and where you see things heading.

4) Connect with people and places that matter most

Spend some time in places and with people where you can unhook and fully be yourself. This might be lunch with a close friend, or an evening with a group of friends. It could be a club, a civic organization, or active citizenship group - any gathering with people who you enjoy and who share your values.

All of these ideas are rooted in awareness and reconnect us to who we really are: Here I am, this is what I value, these are the people who reflect what I value, these are the activities I value. These are my priorities in life no matter what else happens.

I believe in the value of empathy. After shifts and transitions, we need a place to talk about the experience freely, without judgment. We need to talk about it, think about it, discover what we can learn from it, and then move through it. Anchor points will help you find stability in the midst or aftermath of shifts, transition, and confusion.