The transition was a heck of a lot simpler than I built it up to be and much of that has to do with the people I surrounded myself with when I first moved to town. My best friend, his wife, their connection group, new church friends, old friends I have gotten to reconnect with in the same city now - the list has been longer than expected.

Back when I moved to Minnesota for my first full-time job, I had to learn a tough lesson that the friendships you build over the course of your college years, those don’t automatically correlate to new relationships in a new city. My friendships in Mankato took time to build; they didn’t happen over night.

The perception I created about living in a new place, right or wrong, was that the transitions happening in your personal life would take time and the transition for your job would be easy, and when I moved back to Iowa, I expected this to be the case here as well.

Dang - was I wrong.

In my first few months back in Iowa, the relationships I have with new and old friends have felt effortless (though effort does still have to be made), but the ability to jump in to a social life here has felt easier than expected. What wasn’t so easy, was transitioning to a brand new position, in a new environment, in a different functional area. I found myself questioning what I should be doing, second guessing if I was on the correct path, and longing for more responsibility and more tasks on my list to check off.

Having walked into this new season of life having expected my transition to a new job to come easily, I found a gap between my expectations and the reality of my circumstance.

Then in mid-June, I got what I was hoping for, albeit unexpectedly. My supervisor at the time announced her retirement and while they leave huge shoes to fill, and a vast amount of institutional knowledge walked out the door with their departure, I’m thankful now for the opportunity this transition has given me to do more, take on more, and put in place processes, procedures, and systems to impact the events, conferences, and symposiums International Programs put on each year.

I guess what I’m saying is we all need to expect the unexpected. We should drop our preconceived ideas of how situations will go in favor of having an open mind in them. And personally, I need to embrace the fact that I don’t know what I don’t know, but that doesn't stop me from mapping out the path forward to gain the knowledge I may be lacking.

The Next Chapter: a journal for walking through change

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All that to be said - here are 5 things I’ve been learning in the last few months:

Embrace what you don’t know.
Do what makes you happy - who else do you have to please?
Our fear of what others will think is unfounded, most people are actually rooting for you. "Let fear be the gas pedal, not the break." - James Clear
Be confident in your path - only you know how to run where others expect you to walk.
Transitions can be hard, but they don’t have to be when you process them and include others in what’s going on along the way.

If you have ever found yourself in a similar position, walking through a transition in your life because of your personal relationships, a new career, or moving to a new city, I created The Next Chapter Journal as a way for people to focus in on what’s happening in their life right now and provide them space and questions to let them define the transition on their own terms, in their own words. The chapters before, they've all been written; this journal is meant to help people write the next one. I wish I had this journal myself in the many seasons of transitions I've walked through over the years, so if you think it would be beneficial for those in your circle, or even yourself, consider purchasing it.