I recently read Life Is In The Transitions, by Bruce Feiler. It’s a few years old. I first learned about it through Nancy Davis Kho’s Midlife Mixtape podcast and got so much from that episode. Sometimes, you get everything you need from a book in a good podcast interview. But I’m so glad I went on to read this, particularly now as I’ve fallen in love with coaching people in and through transitions. The book is such an enjoyable read, full of inspiring stories of hundreds of people and the changes they’ve been through, and the meaning they made from those changes.
Some big highlights for me in the book were all the ways the author debunked the idea of linearity when it comes to change. It pushed my thinking beyond Erickson’s stages of development. Quite frankly, I used to find a lot of comfort in the thought of life being so neatly organized, even if my own never matched that. It highlighted just how often we are in some form of a transition, and how much longer these last than we expect. And it prompted some creative questions, like what shape would I choose to describe my life?
One of the giant gifts of being a coach is getting to hear someone tell the story of their life – how they became themselves, where they are now in the journey of becoming themselves, and what they’d like the next chapter of becoming themselves to look like. But anyone can enjoy this gift! You can ask a loved one about their high points, low points, and turning points in life. You can ask yourself. There’s so much richness in hearing someone’s story and in listening to your own.
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