The Unease of Business Transition

When we have more questions than answers for our business like a heavy fog over the trees.

I can feel it, and have felt it for months now. The anxious anticipation of a transition period has worn off and I’ve solidly settled in this space now. Unsure about what is next, but curious about what it could be.

I need these mornings. Cold and dark. As if my soul craves the depth in the hidden places. The candlestick glows aflame on my desk. Burning bright orangeish yellow like the sun, sinking into an indigo blue at the center. The heat from the flame creating a lake of melted wax around the wick. The wax spilling from the lake to become rivers of wax trickling the length of the candlestick, pooling in the brass cup below.

I’m relishing quiet, still mornings with my pen, paper and candlelight.

My journal doesn’t hold answers right now. Only questions. An abundance of questions and fragments of insights that pour onto the page. A beckoning back to things I enjoyed as a child and snippets of how to align small things in my life right now with the things I want in the future.

It’s an interesting place to be — this place of transition.

I can feel it, and have felt it for months now. The anxious anticipation of a transition period has worn off and I’ve solidly settled in this space now. Unsure about what is next, but curious about what it could be.

I’ve had several conversations lately with business owners in the 5th or 6th year who feel like they’re back at year 1 of business. The economy has slowed and we’ve found ourselves in a place of reinvention. At no fault of a business model, a bad decision on the owners part, or poor strategy; business has simply shifted and if you’re feeling it too you’re not alone.

I expressed this summer that I was tired and now it seems that I’m hearing from more and more business owners that they’re tired too. I can relate. I found myself saying I don’t want another experiment, I want a solution.

And yet, life doesn’t work that way does it? Demanding a solution doesn’t make it come about any sooner.

So, how can we approach times of change when we don’t know what the change is yet?

I find myself being curious. Curious about the possibilities that lie ahead. I’m loosening my grasp for control a bit and it’s allowing me to shift my perspective to a curious one.

What do I want to learn about? What is piquing my interest? What skills do I want to strengthen? What do I want to be a beginner at? What am I really naturally great at? What do I enjoy? What do I desire? What if…?

I’m only given insights when I ask these questions. There are no answers yet. Insights give me glimpses into what could be, but they’re not an absolute clear answer.

I’m learning to rest in the unease of insights versus answers.

I’m curious, what insights are creeping up for you? If you’re in transition, where do you think the road is leading?

You may not relate to this place in business at the moment, but if there comes a time in the future where you have more questions than answers and you don’t know what the future holds, come back here and know that you’re not alone.