In his book "Life transitions, how to adapt to the turning points of our existence?", William Bridges offers an answer. Selected extracts. . The change concerns an external reality.
Example: moving, new job, illness, birth of a child, arrival of a new boss, acquisition of your business, dismissal, retirement, etc.. The transition concerns an internal, psychological, subjective reality. It is an inner process. . This process begins with a renunciation of something that we have always believed or assumed, a vision of ourselves, of others, of the world. Without renunciation, our present is often in reality a past about which we have not yet turned the page.
. The transition is then accompanied by a change in internal reality: one's vision, one's level of consciousness and sense of the world and oneself, one's system of values, one's beliefs... . Those who only see external realities tend to change partners, jobs, countries, etc. while ending up leading more or less the same life. For example, they quit on a whim rather than asking themselves what pushes them to work for this type of company. Or they suddenly announce to their partner that they are leaving them, rather than renouncing the behaviors, prejudices, images, etc. that cause their romantic relationship to fail...
One of the objectives of the Sculpter son Chemin (Sculpt your Path) program is to allow everyone to become aware of what is at stake within them in the experience of a transition. We offer participants a vocabulary to name what is happening inside. So they can talk about it together, compare, put things into perspective, ... and thus be able to find their way later on their transition path.