Hi everybody, this is Mondays with Mike, a weekly video series where I answer questions from people just like you.
Mike, does the start of something new in life require the end of something old?
That’s a good question. I’m going to make a book recommendation to you, and all of my viewers and that is “Transitions”, the name of the author is William Bridges. It’s an old book, it’s been around a long time, since probably the ’80s. It’s a great book, a really easy to read, you can read it probably in one sitting. And what Bill Bridges says is great. He said, “In every part of life there are endings, there are neutral zones, and there are new beginnings.” Most of the time, you do need an ending, with a neutral zone, before a new beginning starts. But that does not necessarily mean that everything has to end. So, if you’re in a relationship, you probably do need to have that relationship buttoned up and some period of a neutral zone before you move into another one. And I don’t mean ‘broken up’ I mean mentally and emotionally. Because transitioning from one thing to another without a neutral zone and an appropriate ending probably means you’re going to ‘tote some baggage’ into the new process.
The other thing I would say about that is, if you want to move to a new town and start over, you don’t have to buy a new car and get a new outfit, and do all those things in order to start in a new place. So, if it’s similar, and it’s aligned, yes, I do believe that the start of something new requires the end of something old. You don’t have to end everything that was old, but it is important that you think through what you have to let go of and end in order to free you for the new thing. Because if you’ve got baggage and weight, you’re going to have a very difficult time stepping into the new thing.
Hope that was helpful!
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