Ready For A New Role?

Lots of people question if they are “ready” for a new role in their lives. A common statement I hear is:

I’m not sure I’m ready to _________

…be a mother/father.

…get married.

…breakup with my significant other.

…get a new job.

…quit my job/start my own business.

All of these changes are difficult because they implicitly involve accepting a new role in life, whether that role is parent, spouse, ex, employee, boss, or something else. With these new roles would come uncertainty and undoubtedly new responsibilities. We may feel unprepared for those responsibilities and that stress/anxiety often leads to us delaying the transition.

Here are some helpful questions to get you started on deciding if you are ready or not for a new role:

• Do my family/friends think I am ready for this new role? (We often have a negativity bias towards ourselves and are not the best judges of our readiness.)
• Does my current role no longer challenge me or offer opportunities for growth?
• Am I excited by the possibility of this new role? Or terrified?
• When you visualize yourself being in this role a year (or five, or ten) from now, how do you feel?
• How will this new role affect me financially? Emotionally? Spiritually? Am I ready for those changes?

Finally, the last piece of advice I give people trying to make a decision like this is to live a day (or a week) as if you had decided to accept the new role. Maybe even tell people you accepted it to gauge their reactions. See how it feels before actually committing to it. If some of the anxiety subsides, it is usually a good sign that you are ready. Also keep in mind though that a certain amount of fear/anxiety should be expected with any big life change. This is to say that there will not be any random sign from the universe telling you with absolute that you are ready. You can only decide that for yourself.

Thanks for reading!