When one season ends and you are looking ahead to the next season, how do you prepare? What happens in the in-between? I don’t know if we spend enough time in that in-between space. Sometimes we were so ready for the last thing to end that we don’t pause to consider the implications and lessons that accompany both seasons.
This week I made good on a promise I made to myself some time ago, that if I ever was to accept another job opportunity I would take some time for myself to reflect on the previous season and set intentions for the next, before I started at the new place, that I wouldn’t just end one job and jump right into the next. In times past, my last day would be on a Friday and on Monday I'd be starting at the new place. That always felt a bit stressful and abrupt to me.
I think creating an in-between space for reflection, vision casting, and even thanksgiving for good times and bad is important before proceeding to our nexts. It’s healing and restorative, I think. We move so fast these days, from one thing to the next. The benefits of properly ending one stage and intentionally starting the next are not emphasized enough.
Even when you think of relationships, many people just go from one to the other without thinking through what they learned about themselves and others, what they really want, and who they need to be in their next relationship to improve the results.
This time, I just decided I wasn’t going to do that. So I took time this week to do what was necessary for me to consciously prepare for this next season. If it helps you, here’s are seven of the things I did that I recommend to you:
1. Rest and just get used to not being where you were.
That’s an adjustment that could take longer than a week, but I just needed to get used to the idea that I am no longer part of that last season. There is no “we” back there anymore. There is “them” and “me.” Yeah, if you loved “them,” this may not be as easy as it sounds. Trust me, I know because I love “them.” But this is an important step before going on to your next, because it is not fair to your next to still have remnants of your previous hanging around in the front of your mind. You need fresh space in your mind and emotions for your next to fill. You don't want to accidentally call your next the wrong name. That's not a good look for anybody.
2. Reflect on what was learned in the previous season and how it will benefit the next season.
I honestly didn’t spend a lot of time here. Truthfully, I think I had thought a lot about this over the course of living in the previous. So for me, this quickly turned into number three. But if you had a tough previous season, you may need to spend some time here. You may find there are people you need to forgive or offenses, hurts, or failures you have to let go of. Then think of what positive things you learned from those experiences. Maybe you now have a better handle on how to work through conflict. Maybe you have greater compassion for the efforts of others because you know what it's like to not be fully appreciated. Think about these things here and determine to take only the positive things with you into the next season.
3. Give thanks for what was learned in the previous and how it brought you into the next.
Every day this week, just before going to sleep, I thought of how awesome God is for all the opportunity, challenge, and growth He afforded me in the previous season. I thanked Him for the relationships I formed during the previous season—a many of which have played significant roles in launching me successfully into this next season. You probably have read how wonderful my previous was in my previous two posts.
4. Connect with key people who are influential to your success in the next.
When certain people know where you’re going, sometimes they graciously help set out a smooth runway for you to land on in your next. This was something that happened for me that I didn’t quite expect, but I didn’t let the offers lie dormant. I spent time this week connecting with people who are important to what I am doing in this next assignment. Know that it is not only your work that speaks for you, but the support network you build can also speak for you. I am learning the value of connecting with people who will also “speak” for me—in other words help me negotiate success in the next. This could be a whole separate post. Connecting with people and sharing with them what you’re passionate about is very important to building a network of support. Enthusiastically drawing key people in around you with infectious passion and grace makes you all better. I started some of that this week, and I wasn’t even the catalyst for some of this. Someone saw my need before I did and stepped in and helped me connect with some important folks.
5. Do some research on the landscape and terrain of your next.
I was like an e-spy all week, looking at reports, histories, successes, earnings, who’s who, what’s what… I was all in it, all over the web, finding out what I could about my next. I needed to get some idea of the lay of the land. This is important to do, even though the perspective is a little distant at first because you’re still an outsider. Knowing a general idea of what you are getting into is important. You don’t want to go into your next unarmed and un…dangerous? Anyhow, getting a sense of the culture and creed of your next can lead you to…
6. Develop a vision for what needs to be accomplished in the next.
Though I obviously couldn’t come up with any kind of firm plan, I did establish some things I’d like to see happen in this next season. I made a list of ideas, strategic questions, and even preliminary goals. Though I don’t have an insider’s view, I feel that it is easier to adjust what I’ve come up with than not have done any research or have thought of anything at all. I also want to hit the ground running, ’cause the folks I'll be joining are right in the thick of things, in media res. They’re running, and I certainly don’t want to slow them down. They also have hopes for what fresh things I may be able to bring in. And anyway, this is what proactive people do, right? Bring something to the table. Don’t show up to dinner without a little something to share with everyone. How would that look if, after all this, I let them down? Whomp, whomp. Hopefully, not going to happen. ;)
7. Give thanks and send out positive hopes and energy toward your next.
I do this through prayer and meditation. I took time this week to think of those I will be working with, the products they create, and the young minds they impact, and I gave thanks for all of them and what they do. I also prayed for more of all that for the whole team—more fulfillment, more synergy, more joy and passion for what they do… Just a whole lot more of the good stuff. I prayed that their work would be even more successful and rewarding, that the unity of the team be even greater, that more young minds would be impacted. I also gave thanks for the opportunity to be part of such a group and for the work that I will get to join them in doing and the young minds that I will now get to impact. I also prayed that together we will be able to quickly to overcome obstacles and find solutions to problems, that our internal processes will run smoothly and efficiently, that relationships with those outside of us will grow and expand, and that we will be flooded with new ideas—good, sound, and lucrative ideas. I prayed ahead that what was accomplished before I came will be dwarfed by what is to come.
Though I counted this week as advance vacation time (I kind of needed it), I also saw this as an opportunity to prepare myself to be ready to add value to the team from day one. I want them to know that I take their work seriously. I take their time, effort, and expertise seriously, and I want to honor that by coming in ready to work with no residue from the previous season. I want my next to know I’m all theirs.