My journey into a career transition using positive psychology tools
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I am about to embark on a new chapter in my life. I’m reaching the end of my Ph.D. program and looking forward to a research career. But I’m anxious. I’m unsure of how, when, and what my initial steps are in a career transition. The quotation in the title, “All things are difficult before they are easy,” comes from the 17th-century historian Thomas Fuller. What I’ve learnt from this is that while a new enterprise may seem overwhelming at first, it will become simpler over time. I realise my expertise of how to be a full-time researcher is still limited, and the task of finding work is unknown, unpredictable, and ambiguous. How can positive psychology assist me get through this change and build expertise?
I have an idea of what I want to do and a few possibilities in mind. You, my dear friends, hold me accountable for maintaining my spirits and perseverance! To help me navigate this ambiguous route, I will use my positive psychology knowledge to reflect and guide me. I hope that these blogs will serve as a beneficial reflection for you as you examine their own transitions and how positive psychology and related knowledge, tools, and approaches might help you succeed.
My first steps
As a creative person, I enjoy visualising things; therefore instead of setting SMART goals, I chose to build a visual representation of my future self. This is similar to the ‘Best Possible Self’ exercise, which has been shown to improve well-being (Carillo et al., 2019). The graphic I generated as part of this activity serves as the banner for this and future blogs. This approach was really useful in ‘seeing’ myself in the future doing the things I enjoy.
A difficult transition?
A recent systematic review of literature has found that data on a successful career transition is fragmented and limited (Mussagulova et al., 2023). The authors of the research intended to investigate what constituted a good job transfer and what contributed to its success. However, due to a lack of a unified concept of what constitutes a successful transition, the literature currently provides little guidance for anyone seeking to make an acceptable career change. Indeed, the research tends to pathologise career changes as undesirable rather than acknowledging that some people actively make changes or seize the opportunity to use an unexpected change to do something worthwhile.
Careers now are significantly more complex than those thirty or forty years ago, but they also provide many more opportunities to choose less standard and linear paths. It takes a certain level of courage to venture into the unknown, as well as a willingness to be flexible about what work is done in order to earn a living. My strategy is to take baby steps towards my goals, learning from the work and activities I perform as I build my confidence and talents. This is a lot easier than it sounds!
Managing overwhelm: Positive psychology tools
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy provides a useful practice for managing uncertainty. ACT is a good fit for positive psychology since it encourages people to embrace discomfort. Using the ‘quicksand’ metaphor it encourages the client to imagine themselves in quicksand (see the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DGupVaIwEY). Instead of resisting the feeling of overwhelm, it proposes that the person relax as if they were in quicksand and open up to their emotions. By lying fully out on the quicksand and without resisting, you avoid sinking into it. This metaphor helped me to relax and keep an open mind about what could happen.
As curiosity and creativity are two of my strengths (https://www.viacharacter.org/) I also decided to utilise these words as prompts when I was feeling frustrated or disheartened. They serve as a reminder to embrace ambiguity and curiosity, as well as to find new methods to learn and progress.
Like with the ‘Hero’s Journey’ (Campbell & Moyers, 1988) I am stepping over the threshold to an unknown place. Maybe you will journey with me with your own life transition? Good luck!
References
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ‘Quicksand metaphor’ Accessed 30/9/24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DGupVaIwEY
Campbell J., & Moyers, B. (1988). The power of myth (reissue). Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group.
Carillo, A. et al. (2019). Effects of the Best Possible Self intervention: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS ONE, 14(9) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0222386
Mussagulova, A. et al. (2023). When is a career transition successful? a systematic literature review and outlook (1980–2022). Frontiers in Psychology, 14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2023.1141202
VIA Character strengths website https://www.viacharacter.org/