Tag Archives: transition

Moving Soon? 12 Things You Should Do to Ease Your Transition

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12 Moving Tips
Photo: Tomais Ashdene

Whether it’s across town or to another state, moving at some point is a fact of life and always a challenge. Since I moved to Nashville in 1995, I’ve been through 4 moves…guess that averages out to about 1 every 4 years for me. Since I despise moving so much, I’ve always tried to keep it to a minimum. But through the pains of life comes knowledge, so in this post I want to share some things that will help ease your transition in the form of a reminders checklist!

1) Have a plan: A couple of months out, make a budget, and save as much as you can to cover expenses. House/apartment shop, and have your new place lined up. Then choose the date of your move.
2) After you’ve signed the lease on (or bought) your new place, get the key, set up all utilities before you move in, do any painting, repairs, etc.
3) Choose, book, remind, and coordinate the movers (if you plan to use one), or schedule reliable friends and a truck. If using a moving company, try to book your move on a Mon.-Thur. so you may be able to get a lower price than a weekend move.
4) After your new residence is sure/secure, change addresses with any person or company sending you mail. Do as many online as possible, then others by phone. Examples: friends & family, work, magazines to which you’re subscribed, credit cards, financial planner, car loan payment, insurances, the IRS (form 8822), Social Security office, internet service provider, college alumni associations, cell phone service, Motor Vehicle Bureau for your state, voter registration…
5) Fill out/submit the online change of address form to the Post Office.
6) Give notice to your [homeowners or renters] insurance company to switch your coverage to the new place on the date you move in.
7) Get moving boxes (and packing tape). Check paper-only/recycling dumpsters behind large stores or places of business before buying boxes. Ask first.
8) Go through all your belongings. Sell, give away, trash, or donate as many things as you can. Less stuff means less to pack, move, and unpack!
9) Get crackin’ on some packin’. Plan to have it all done the night before the move (except for your last minute items). With a thick black marker, label your boxes by the room they go in. Use as many items as a box (e.g., laundry baskets, waste baskets, milk crates on hand, luggage, etc.) as you can to conserve space.
10) The morning of the move, pack your last minute things, help the movers move some of your more fragile things to the truck, and load any items you’d rather transport yourself into your car (I always move my component stereo system). At your new place, let the movers know to set boxes as labeled in the respective rooms. Then be unpacking kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom items while the movers are working.
11) Save all moving related receipts (including your donations), and log your mileage  between your old place and the new so you can write them off on your taxes (unless your new company is paying for the move!)
12) If need be, choose a new primary care doctor, dentist, bank, church, etc.

Like many things, with a little planning and a checklist, you can make your move go more smoothly and be less stressful.

What other tips would you add? Comment in the “Start the Discussion” blank below.

 

Looking for a new job? Want to get what you want fast? Check out my book, Here Today, Hired Tomorrow (kurtkirton.com/hthtbook), and subscribe to my blog (kurtkirton.com) for free advice on your job search.

Don’t Let Fear Camouflage Your Passion

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Trusting God in Your Job Search
Last year, I read Pete Wilson’s book What Keeps You Up at Night. What an amazing encouragement to identify and forge ahead with your passions and trust God to guide you through making each next right decision. This excerpt from the book I felt is so refreshing and relevant to career transition that, with his permission, I wanted to share it:

I am convinced that fear defeats more dreams than all other causes combined. Many of us find fear standing between us and the pursuit of our passion. On the other hand, many of us surrender to fear and resign ourselves into a life that is so much less than it could be.

But what if we could learn to lean into the fear, into the transition? What if we could take the first step toward pursuit of the dream, and then the next, and the one after that?

Certainly, doing that requires going forward in the face of uncertainty. None of us ever gets 100 percent clarity about the finish line while we’re standing at the starting gate. Only by moving forward are we able to begin to see what might be next.

Without a doubt, leaning into transition requires much of us. It will mean encountering stress, uncertainty, cost, discomfort, and a certain amount of temporary chaos. It will require us to learn new skills and acquire new relationships. None of these processes is without risk.

Leaning into transition may even require a certain amount of “fake it until you make it.” You may need to learn some improvisation skills. After all, you are taking steps into the unknown—the untried. You may have to wing it for a while.

Remember the story of Jesus walking on the water? Just before this takes place, He had performed a great miracle, feeding 5,000 people with only a little boy’s five loaves of bread and two fish as His starting point. After that, He sent His disciples in a boat across the Sea of Galilee while He went away from everyone to spend most of the night in prayer.

Just before dawn the next morning, He went out to the boat, walking across the water. The disciples weren’t making much headway in their craft because there was a strong headwind. As they saw Jesus approaching, they were frightened at first.

Peter—possibly the owner of the boat since he was a fisherman by trade—called out, “Lord, if it is really You, let me walk on the water to You.” Jesus told him to come ahead, and Peter started climbing out of the boat.

Why would Peter, this experienced fisherman, do something like this—something that makes absolutely no sense, based on a lifetime of experience? I think it is because of the desire burning in Peter’s heart: to be near Jesus. At that moment, the thing he wanted most in all the world was to stand next to his teacher, atop the waves.

So, he clambers out of the boat and takes off, headed toward Jesus, but then something happens: fear gets in the way. The Bible says Peter “saw the wind” and was afraid—and he began to sink. Peter realized he was completely off-script. He was in a situation that no previous experience of his life had prepared him for. He was on uncharted ground—oops, I mean uncharted water. And he became afraid.

Fortunately for Peter, he was in the vicinity of the only Person in the world ever known to have walked on water. Jesus grabbed Peter’s hand and helped him back into the boat.

We can talk about Peter’s lapse in faith, of course. We can discuss how his fear got in the way of the pursuit of his goal, but we have to give him credit for getting out of the boat, don’t we? And from this story, we can also learn that leaning into transition in the pursuit of a dream will often put us in situations we never expected. In fact, the unexpected seems to be a basic element of taking those first steps.

So, the first fear we often have to face is our fear of the unexpected. And it’s in the midst of that fear that we have to find the courage to accept every experience—including the negative ones—as merely steps on the path. Then we have to proceed.

You may face a long and complicated time of uncertainty before you see your passion bear fruit, and you may spend a lot of time wandering in your own “desert” of obstacles, opposition, and unexpected difficulties. But if you commit to the long haul and lean in to the transition—trusting God to equip you for whatever you need to do—you will one day see your purposes fulfilled and your fears conquered. It may not take the shape you imagined for it in the beginning, but it will be perfect, as with all things God designs.

–Pete Wilson

Pete Wilson, the founder and former senior pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee, a frequent speaker at national and international church conferences, and an avid blogger, and author of Plan B, Empty Promises, and Let Hope In. Pete’s fourth book, What Keeps You Up At Night?, will challenge you to take steps of trust along the path toward God’s best for your life and enable you to withstand doubt, opposition, and worry.

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Smarter than the Disciples

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Are we smarter than the Disciples from the Bible? Faith and career transition go hand in hand. Realize that God cares about this season of your life. Faith, hope, provision, care, encouragement, job search, transition, Jesus, doubt, disciples
Photo by Caulton Morris

I don’t think I’ve yet mentioned why this blog sways spiritual. Losing your job is one of the most significant negative events you can experience. To say the time between then and landing your next job is a challenge, is an understatement. Since most of us draw the majority of our identity from our work, a season of job searching can break you down to the core of who you are since you don’t have a traditional job. (I can’t say you don’t have a job since looking for your next position is quite a job!)

This time will cause you to question yourself. You will have your fair share of pity parties and may experience depression. Career transition–even if you DO have a job now and are seeking another–is rarely easy. I always say it’s a season that can turn you to God. Not to bash anyone, but I don’t know how those who don’t have a personal relationship with God (and have him to turn to) make it through the process. Scripture, my friends, the literature I read, and being able to be real, raw, honest with, and dependant on God give me strength during these periods of career transition.

Recently I visited Crosspoint Church here in Nashville. The pastor’s sermon that day made me think of one of those “Ah ha!” moments I had during grad school. My Sunday School teacher, Brent Funderburke, was amazing. I even had him as a professor for a watercolor class one semester.

One Sunday our topic was how Jesus fed five thousand people who came to hear him speak. Mark 6:30-44 talks about how the disciples were incredulous as to how they were to accomplish Jesus’ directive to “give them something to eat.”

I thought, “Pfff, these guys! Just a few chapters back, they watched Jesus calm a massive storm on the sea, heal a demon-possessed man, and raise a girl from the dead! Here they are worried about some food, and they can’t even think outside the box to ask Jesus to use his power to help them.

Then it dawned on me…don’t we do the same thing?! We can look back now at the times He provided (sometimes not like we expected or wanted), pulled us through, healed, encouraged, etc. but still allow exactly the same kind fear or myopia to settle in.

The morning I visited Crosspoint, Pete, the pastor there, told the story of how God brought he and his pastor friend to listen to and encourage a woman on the beach in the Dominican Republic. (You can read his story at this page of his blog.)

Tears welled up in my eyes when Pete drew it all together and made his point. Even though there are, have been, and will be millions of human beings on this earth and even though sometimes we feel like He has turned a deaf ear to our plight, the God of the universe notices, hears, cares, and acts. Yes, even all the way down to you and your situation.

So, be encouraged. Don’t forget. Stay connected—if you have a church home, don’t neglect attending during this time so He can encourage you. Read the book He gave us.

A great book I’m reading, broken out into daily sections, is Rick Pritikin’s Why Did I Lose My Job If God Loves Me? His writing is transparent and uplifting, drawn from his own experience. I appreciate the stories he includes from his difficult season of career transition. You can click on the image below to check it out at Amazon.

Blessings to you in your search. Keep up the hard but good work. Use your time wisely. Keep a positive attitude—it will show! Be thankful about the good things and what you have, and press on.

A friend sent me this prayer he ran across, author unknown, so I wanted to share it in closing…

God, our Father, I turn to you seeking your divine help and guidance as I look for suitable employment. I need your wisdom to guide my footsteps along the right path, and to lead me to find the proper things to say and do in this quest. I wish to use the gifts and talents you have given me, but I need the opportunity to do so with gainful employment. Do not abandon me, dear Father, in this search, but rather grant me this favor I seek so that I may return to you with praise and thanksgiving for your gracious assistance. Grant this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.