Transform Career Changes Into New Opportunities

(mouse clicking) (gentle music) Headspace Studios. Hi, my name is Dr. Lateefah Watford, and welcome to Radio Headspace and to Wednesday morning. I'm a mother of five, wife and psychiatrist, and this week I'm talking to you about how to manage major life transitions. I think one of the scariest things in life is a major career transition. From getting let go from a job unexpectedly to figuring out how to do a new one, it's all a hard process. So today, let's talk about how to keep it together when things at work are changing or feel like they're falling apart. As we talked about, life transitions in and of themself are difficult. Career transitions add a little bit more to that. Oftentimes, we identify and sometimes define our self-worth based on our career. What I mean by that is oftentimes people go from being themselves to being what they do. For example, for me, it would be going from being Lateefah to being Dr. Watford, and then allowing that piece to become what I base my self worth on. So imagine if that's how you viewed things. If you had determined that your self-worth was solely based on your career, and all of a sudden that career changed or ended, how disruptive to your life that could be. I remember one of the big career changes for me happened over a decade ago. At my former position, I was a doctor, but it had gotten to the point where I was rapidly facing burnout. The idea of going to work was exhausting. I started to question whether or not what I was doing actually made an impact. So I decided that that was it, I am done. I had two plans. First step, quit my job. Second step, become a kindergarten teacher 'cause they have naps with the children during the day. That's it, that's where I was. I was devastated because I had spent my whole life training and learning to become a psychiatrist, and now I had come to the point where I did not wanna practice medicine anymore. Fortunately, I learned through life and experiences that when you're upset, it's not the best time to make major life decisions. So, I quit my job. I was unemployed for seven whole days before I took another temporary job. Interestingly, I was able to recenter myself professionally and feel good about the work I was doing and the help I was able to provide my patients. Quite honestly, losing a job unexpectedly can be terrifying. Sometimes though a promotion or a new job can be just as scary as losing a job. It can lead to feelings of anxiety, or even you questioning yourself. Something like imposter syndrome. When you're feeling like this, I recommend you stop for a moment and think about the situation. Particularly if you're dealing with a promotion or a new job. You have to remember you didn't get that promotion or that new...