I don’t know of any physician (including me) who’s made a successful career change who did not experience challenging emotions along the way.

At times, it can feel like you’re on a emotional rollercoaster!

Recognizing and allowing the emotion is important to help you move forward in the career transition process.

Emotions are normal, expected, intelligent responses!

How do you respond when emotions come up? Do you try to “toughen up?” Do you distract yourself? Are you afraid things might spiral out of control? Do you beat yourself up for being “too emotional”?

To effectively work with emotions, it’s important to name them accurately and allow them to be there.

1. Name the emotion accurately.

When you get specific about what you’re feeling, you can work with the emotion more effectively.

This can be surprisingly challenging!

To guide you, here are examples of an expanded vocabulary of emotions.

Overwhelmed or stressed

anxious / vulnerable / skeptical / nervous / cautious / tense / scared?

Sad

disappointed / disillusioned / mournful / isolated / betrayed / hurt / a sense of loss / grief?

Guilty

shame / embarrassed / self-conscious / lonely / confused / isolated?

Angry

irritated / frustrated / defensive / annoyed / grumpy / exhausted / despondent?

Happy

grateful / relieved / confident / excited / trusting / energized / hopeful?

2. Allow the emotion to be there and move through.

Emotion = Energy-in- Motion that needs to flow.

When we resist or bottle them up, emotions tend to leak out in other ways.

Being with an unpleasant emotion is challenging and takes practice! A tool I have found helpful is RAIN.

RAIN was developed by Tara Brach PhD.

There are 4 steps to being with an emotion.

1. Recognize
2. Allow
3. Investigate
4. Nurture

1. Recognize the emotion. Become Aware and then name it.

If you have difficulty identifying what you’re feeling, I invite you to look over the list above and see if there’s a more accurate name for what you’re feeling.

2. Allow the emotion to be there.

Allow it to flow. Don’t try to change it, push it away, or fix it. Stay with it. Even for just a few seconds. Resist the temptation to distract, or beat yourself up,or rationalize. The average emotion when allowed to pass through does not last very long. Staying with it does not mean you act on it.

3. Investigate or get curious about it.

Where in or around your body do you feel it most? If you place your hand over that area of the body, it can help you get in touch with it and become curious.

4. Nurture with kind attention.

Have compassion for yourself. This is not wallowing in self-pity. It means taking care of the emotion. What does the emotion need right now? What do you need right now?

In summary,

Experiencing a wide range of emotions is a normal part of career transition.

Keep in mind, emotions are normal, expected, and intelligent responses to what you’re going through. Allow them to arise without necessarily acting on them or beating yourself up for having them. Instead, understand what you’re really feeling, get curious about the message, and give yourself loads of compassion.