First 30 Days: The Book

Excerpt: Introduction

Why the First Thirty Days?

Several years ago, while attempting to settle into a new job (my seventh in ten years, if you’re wondering), I wrote my thoughts in a journal, as I always do. I described my feelings during the first thirty days of this new position. I saw my doubts (Am I good enough?), fears (What if I fail?), and impatience (When am I going to feel like I really belong here or be given any real work to do?). I saw that these were the same feelings I had experienced during the first few weeks of all my previous jobs—which was a strange realization, given that these jobs were in a variety of industries across Europe, Asia, the United States, and even Africa! But it was even stranger to discover that these were the same feelings I had when my last relationship ended and were also what I felt as child when I had difficulty adjusting to yet another new school. As all of these familiar emotions continued to show up during radically different changes, I also began to see a pattern in what I was doing to get through changes. I became aware of what was making these changes easier to handle and move through.

In examining the changes that I’ve experienced and that I’ve seen others go through over the years, I noticed that the first few days and weeks of any transition were often the hardest and most emotional, but also the most exciting and the most important to understand. This is the time when we are least able to think clearly and practically. But if we approach change with a positive mind-set, ask the right questions, use the best tools, have a plan, and surround ourselves with strong, inspiring people, it will no longer seem so daunting and our path so uncertain. People who navigate the first thirty days of change successfully will find that they transition through the rest of their change—and future changes—with more confidence and clarity.

The title The First 30 Days is a metaphor to help you get started. This book isn’t an exact day-to-day approach for moving through change. If your change began a lot longer than thirty days ago but you’re now ready to start accepting, understanding, and moving through it, this is also the right book for you. Don’t put off embracing the change that has come into your life or initiating a change that you’ve always wanted to make. You are in the right place.