Mindful in 5 Podcast

Freedom of Transition

• Spiwe Jefferson • Season 5 • Episode 178

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Pre-order your copy of Phoenix Rising - Ignite Your Job Search

Feeling lost in a career transition? You're not alone. Whether your job change was voluntary or unexpected, this episode offers a powerful reframing that could transform your experience from one of anxiety to genuine opportunity.

Stanford neuroscience research reveals something surprising: those periods when your brain isn't consumed by endless tasks are precisely when your most creative insights emerge. Think about it - when was the last time you had truly unstructured time to follow your curiosity? Welcome to the science of cognitive restoration, where what might feel like idleness is actually your brain's most productive state.

Through practical techniques we unpack in this episode, you'll discover how to rewire your natural negativity bias and recognize the unique freedoms available during this transition. Rather than measuring success through job applications sent, you'll learn to track moments of genuine curiosity followed and instances of self-compassion chosen over self-criticism. 

Counterintuitively, research shows that people who allow themselves true rest during job transitions actually secure better positions faster than those who launch into frantic searching.

Ready to transform your career transition story? Listen now, and don't forget to pre-order my upcoming book "Phoenix Rising: Ignite Your Job Search" through the link in the show notes.

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More Links and Resources

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Mindful in 5 Summer Zen Series, your hub for thriving leaders. Here we will explore actionable insights to support resilience and success as we navigate the unique chaos of summer, and success as we navigate the unique chaos of summer. I'm Spheer Deverson, certified mindfulness practitioner, lawyer and author of the Mindful in 5 book series. I believe we all deserve a bit more balance and peace, especially when work and life get a little hectic. When work and life get a little hectic While you're enjoying the sunshine and this vibrant season, I'm excited to share insights and practices that can help you integrate mindfulness, balance, peace and a sense of purpose, whether summer's just beginning or winter's at your door. Grab a comfy spot and let's explore these practices together. Elevate your work, empower your life, work higher, live stronger. Let's go. Last episode, I shared with you my confession. Last episode, I shared with you my confession as we started talking about the topic we are unpacking this week on how to rewire your transition story to lean into the freedom of transition. If you missed it, find the link in this episode's show notes and listen to that first if you have time, because it tees up today's topic quite nicely. I am talking to everyone who has voluntarily or involuntarily found themselves in a career transition. I have many colleagues in the legal field whose companies have been directly or indirectly impacted by the federal government job cuts. So if you find yourself in a season of transition, know that you are not alone and no one is immune. I have had good friends who have chosen to leave their roles so that they could take time to just really reflect on the things actually the things we're going to talk about today and in the Mindful. In 5 book, meditations for People with no Time, singeta makes the choice to leave her role so that she can go back to law school. I have had times when I have left jobs, either because my husband and I decided to move we switched states or I left one job because I got an offer I couldn't refuse, or I got a promotion to go someplace else.

Speaker 1:

Stanford neuroscientist Dr Marcus Rakiel's research on the brain's default mode network reveals something extraordinary when your brain is not focused on external tasks, like when you're not rushing to meetings or responding to endless emails, it enters a state called diffuse attention. This is when your most creative insights emerge, when you process complex emotions and when you integrate learning at the deepest level. Think about it. How long has it been since you've had truly unstructured time, time to follow your curiosity without justifying it to anyone. Time to explore interests that don't need to generate income immediately. This is cognitive restoration, not to be confused with laziness.

Speaker 1:

Here is your science-backed strategy for transforming this transition into a period of genuine freedom. I call it the freedom inventory ritual. Each morning, spend five minutes identifying three specific freedoms you have today that you didn't have while you were working. Maybe it's the freedom to take a walk around the lake at 6 pm in the evening without having to rush back to your desk. Maybe it's the freedom to read a book that interests you, or to have an unhurried conversation with a friend that doesn't end in. Okay, I have to get back to work bye.

Speaker 1:

When I left my last role, I was able to be fully present at a conference where I was speaking. I didn't have to rush back to my hotel and check emails. It was amazing. Then I went on a previously planned vacation where I didn't have to work around the edges of that vacation. That was amazing. I had time to hang out with my neighbors, visit with friends, spend unhurried time at the gym and even catch up on these podcast episodes and catch up on these podcast episodes.

Speaker 1:

So I'm not just preaching theories at you. These strategies really work. I use them myself. So do write down your three new freedoms. Why? Because your brain has a negativity bias. It is hardwired to focus on threats and losses. By consciously cataloging your current freedoms, you are literally rewiring your neural pathways to recognize opportunity within what might otherwise be a really challenging season.

Speaker 1:

The cognitive reframe looks like this Instead of thinking I don't have a job, what am I going to do? Experiment with? I am in professional transition, or I'm on my way to my next professional adventure, or every day brings me closer to my next role. This is strategic psychology. Language shapes perception and perception shapes behavior. I like to say first we think, then we do, then we become. Your language has the power to activate different neural networks, triggering curiosity and possibility rather than shame and scarcity. After all, you don't need all the jobs out there, you just need one. Here's what might surprise you Research shows that people who allow themselves to truly rest during career transitions, who resist the urge to immediately launch into a frantic job search, actually secure better positions faster.

Speaker 1:

This is because rest is not the absence of productivity. It is a different kind of productivity that happens below conscious awareness. Your subconscious is processing years of professional experience, integrating lessons and preparing for your next evolution. This requires bandwidth and constant anxiety and activity. Just consume that kind of bandwidth and freedom for you to really think. Let's shift the success metrics during this period. Instead of measuring success by job applications sent or interviews scheduled, try measuring it by moments of curiosity that you followed, conversations that energized rather than drained you, times you chose self-compassion over self-criticism, instances where you felt truly present in your life, felt truly present in your life. I'll give you one example of how this helps in your job search Moments of genuine curiosity.

Speaker 1:

Let's say you have an interview today and, mentally, because you're so anxious to get the job, you are so focused, perhaps, on saying what you think the interviewer needs to hear, and what they may hear is a lack of authenticity, maybe a level of desperation that is not attractive and that doesn't make them immediately think, oh, I have to give this person a job. Immediately think, oh, I have to give this person a job. Whereas, for example, if you're following genuine curiosity, that potentially turns that interview into a two-way conversation and that two-way conversation allows you to learn about that role, and it also allows you to think about what you have in your repertoire that might genuinely help that company achieve the goals that it's trying to accomplish. And so, because you're focused on those moments of genuine curiosity, you're interested in the person who is interviewing you. You're interested in the role and what they really need in that role. You're interested in helping them identify what you bring to the table, just as much as you are interested in making sure that that company is the right culture for you. Therefore, both of you will make a better decision about your fit for that role in the end, and if you get that offer, you're going to be armed with a much better sense of what they need from you and how you can help that company achieve its objectives. See, so this is not going to be a detraction. It's not going to be a divergence. It's not going to be a detraction. It's not going to be a divergence. It's not going to be a detour away from what you are trying to accomplish, but it may, in fact, be the path that gets you there and accelerates your journey to your next role. This approach also recognizes that your well-being during this transition directly impacts the quality of opportunities that you will attract and your ability to recognize the right fit when it appears.

Speaker 1:

Your mindset really matters In times when I have been recruiting for a job, when I talk to candidates who are still mad at their last employer, mad about their situation, haven't gotten over their last awful boss, or the surprise of a layoff, or the regret over a choice to leave it leaks into the interview. When that happens, an employer might conclude that you have the technical skills for the role, but you might not have the right mindset to come in and be successful, because, of course, every employer who hires you really wants you to come and be successful. If this sounds like you, it may be that you could benefit from pattern interrupts to break out of automatic behaviors and discover new possibilities. Your career transition is life's ultimate pattern interrupt. Don't waste it. Use it intentionally. What patterns from your previous role do you want to leave behind? What patterns from your previous role do you want to leave behind? Maybe it's the pattern of saying yes to everything, or the pattern of working ridiculous hours as if you could do it all in a day, like me, or the pattern of not advocating for yourself. I have a good friend who has always been an advocate for her co-workers and the people around her. One day recently she stood up for herself and continued to advocate for herself. I was so proud of her and I told her so. And more than that, the most important thing was she could see that strength in herself and she could see her standing up for herself and she was proud of herself for making that shift from advocate for others to advocate for self. This transition gives you the space to consciously choose new patterns before stepping into your next professional chapter.

Speaker 1:

As we wrap up today's episode, here's your integration challenge For the next week. Practice what I call Freedom Friday, even if it's not Friday, you know why? Because you can Choose one day to fully embrace the freedom of your current situation. Sleep until you naturally wake up. Follow your curiosity, have a conversation with someone you care about. Notice how this freedom feels in your body. Give yourself the space and permission to remember that you are more than your professional identity and that this transition is offering you access to parts of yourself that may have been dormant.

Speaker 1:

Remember phoenix rises don't happen overnight. If you're wondering about that whole phoenix thing, rises don't happen overnight. If you're wondering about that whole Phoenix thing. I am writing my next book. My next Mindful and Five book is called Phoenix Rising Ignite your job search and it's all about how you can rise from the ashes of shock, surprise, despair, anger, all the things, and rise like a phoenix from the ashes into the dawn and the day of your next professional adventure. Click on the link at the top of the show notes for this episode to pre-order your copy today.

Speaker 1:

So, as I was saying, phoenix Rises don't happen overnight. They happen through the patient process of transformation. Your professional disruption doesn't mean you failed. It could mean you are ready for something new or different, or bigger, or different or bigger. This is a bend in the curve that offers you the chance to align more deeply with who you are becoming, so that when you come around that curve you don't just have a part of you that's the work you and then there's the rest of you but you align those two things so that, coming out of that bend, you are one, united in all of the persons and all of the parts of who you are, and you take that strength, all of it, into your next role, elevate your work, empower your life, work harder, live stronger. You've got this Until next week. This is Be Weigh saying be mindful and be well.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for listening to Mindful in 5. If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend, follow and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. Pick up your signed copy of the book and journal from spewayjeffersoncom, or unsigned copies from Amazon, Barnes, Noble or wherever you get your books. Visit spewayjeffersoncom to download sample chapters of the book, watch videos and become a mindful ninja. Join us on the LinkedIn Mindful in 5 group and share your thoughts. Until next time, be mindful and be well.