Starting a new season of life, whether personal or professional can be exciting. At the same time, however, the amount of change that comes with new beginnings can be equally overwhelming.
Lately, I’ve been navigating two major new beginnings, one personal and the other professional.
- Becoming an empty nester as my youngest son moves away to college, and
- Expanding operations of my company into a new region.
Are you experiencing new beginnings either personally or professionally?
Whether you have a new addition to your household, your family unit becomes smaller, you change jobs, move to a new location, or launch a new product, you become consumed with only the tasks to make the transition happen. All other things you must do in your daily routine seem to be “outside noise” and is distracting.
New Beginnings Require Pinpoint Focus
You can’t birth something new while doing everything exactly the same as you’ve done before. New beginnings require a lot of energy and a lot of sustained focus. This level of focus isn’t sustainable for the long haul but is necessary for accomplishing your new endeavor.
The perfect example to illustrate my point is the extreme focus required during childbirth.
A women’s body naturally goes into hyper-focus to bring that child into the world. During labor, all other “distractions” of daily life are drowned out. This is not a time for the usual routine of daily life. Although during labor, it may seem like it will last forever, her extreme focus isn’t long-lived and is necessary to bring her baby into this world. After birth, her heightened focus is gone, and then her mental energy is free to move onto other things.
Don’t Give Up
If you’re “birthing” something new, you might be tempted to give up. It’s natural to feel like your new beginning is consuming every ounce of your energy and other important projects are not getting the attention you think they deserve.
I know you’re tired. I know you might be unsure whether you have what it takes. I encourage you to not give up. You can do it.
New beginnings are worth it. Here are a few suggestions to help you to maintain your short-term extreme focus needed for birthing your new beginning.
Divert all energy towards launching your new beginning and look for areas where you can conserve your energy and cut back. You don’t have to do all things all at once. Make choices of what you can give up in the short term to make your new beginning a reality.
Now is the time for you to bear down, refine your focus to birth your new beginning.
