{"id":283460,"date":"2024-07-15T19:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T19:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlslife.com\/?p=283460"},"modified":"2025-03-03T22:01:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T22:01:21","slug":"how-to-navigate-those-tough-life-transitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/life\/283460\/how-to-navigate-those-tough-life-transitions\/","title":{"rendered":"How to navigate those tough life transitions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/content\/caroline_top.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Truth: Major life transitions are often&nbsp;bittersweet. Some might feel positive on paper, like starting your&nbsp;new dream summer job, but come with a rush of&nbsp;anxiety when you start overthinking&nbsp;(What will your new schedule look like? Will your coworkers be nice?&nbsp;Are you going to miss having all that extra free time!?).&nbsp;On the other hand, some changes can seem disappointing at first&mdash;for example, saying goodbye to&nbsp;your current friend group to move&nbsp;to a new city&mdash;but actually turn out to be really fulfilling.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Whether nerve-wracking&nbsp;or&nbsp;exciting (or a little bit of both), we can&#39;t always plan for life&#39;s curveballs. If you are navigating a tough&nbsp;transition, the good news is that you are not alone&mdash;and you can get through it with a few of our tried-and-true pointers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"giphy-embed\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/8zgPGhRO6qRFXbnkIJ\" width=\"480\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#8e44ad\"><span style=\"font-size: 19.2px;\"><b>Adopt&nbsp;a growth mindset&nbsp;<\/b><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p>Having a growth mindset is all about&nbsp;how you approach challenges and setbacks when they pop up.&nbsp;Instead of immediately feeling defeated when faced with a difficult sitch, a growth mindset encourages you to see it as an opportunity to learn and get better. It&#39;s like saying:&nbsp;&quot;OK, this is tough, but I can figure it out and come out stronger.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Pro tip: Write this mantra on a sticky note and throw it on your nightstand\/bathroom mirror\/phone case\/somewhere you&#39;ll actually see it. Whenever it catches your eye, take a deep breath and let your present self enjoy a pat on the back from your past self.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"giphy-embed\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/QeyY75RH6EydXK3GoG\" width=\"480\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color:#8e44ad;\"><big>Be proactive&nbsp;<\/big><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:null;\"><span class=\"marker\">When it comes to life transitions, don&#39;t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. Being proactive means being willing to take risks and try new things, even if they scare you a little. You don&#39;t (we repeat, *don&#39;t*) have to have every last thing&nbsp;figured out. It&#39;s more about taking the first step, even if you&#39;re not sure where it will lead.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:null;\"><span class=\"marker\">Headed to a whole new school in the fall? Set aside some time to research what fresh cool classes are&nbsp;offered or send a cold email to the coach of the&nbsp;basketball team to see if you can try out. Putting in that extra effort is hard when you&#39;re feeling stressed about the change in the first place, but it can actually help you get excited about change. Transitions are less painful&nbsp;when you have concrete things to look forward to.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/content\/olivia_rodrigo_and_madison_hu.jpg\"><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cwsp0-6xkOP\/?igsh=NzY3enA1OWRpczdx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"marker\"><small>@oliviarodrigo<\/small><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><big><span style=\"color:#8e44ad;\"><span style=\"background-color:null;\">Seek support<\/span><\/span><\/big><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"marker\"><span style=\"color:null;\">You&#39;re quitting swim team to do piano, heading to summer camp, or maybe even going through some changes in your personal life. It&#39;s all a bit overwhelming, right? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"marker\"><span style=\"color:null;\">Whether it&#39;s talking to your bsf or a sib, reaching out for support can make a huge difference. <\/span><\/span>It takes guts to admit when you need help and shoot that &quot;Hey, can I talk to you about something? &lt;3&quot; text&nbsp;to someone you trust.&nbsp;<span class=\"marker\"><span style=\"color:null;\">Just getting stuff off your chest (and possibly also recieving&nbsp;a big hug)&nbsp;can lighten your&nbsp;load. I<\/span><\/span>t&#39;s totally ok&nbsp;to not have all the answers all the time, and you shouldn&#39;t have to&nbsp;handle it alone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"giphy-embed\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/bz1bv0Es9SWcmpKmuv\" width=\"480\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color:#8e44ad;\"><big>Work on acceptance&nbsp;<\/big><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Accepting that change is just a normal part of life can&nbsp;make things a whole lot easier. Sure, it can be scary or uncomfortable, but it can also bring new opportunities, growth&nbsp;and even happy moments.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of spending all your energy trying to fight against life&#39;s changes,&nbsp;try embracing it. Or even ~pretending~ to embrace it (aka faking it &#39;til you make it).&nbsp;Remind yourself that change is normal&nbsp;and focus on adapting and moving forward.&nbsp; Like Taylor Swift said, &quot;You&#39;re own your own kid, you can face it.&quot;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><big><span style=\"color:#ff33cc;\">Going&nbsp;through a big change? Share your stories with us <\/span><\/big><\/strong><big><strong><span style=\"color:#ff33cc;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/girlslifemag\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@girlslifemag<\/a>!<\/span><\/strong><\/big><\/p>\n<p><strong>For more mental health advice, check out these related posts:<\/strong><br \/>\n\ud83d\udc97&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.girlslife.com\/life\/tough-stuff\/42720\/ocd-isnt-actually-what-you-think-it-is\" target=\"_blank\">How to own your feelings (even if it&#39;s hard)<\/a><br \/>\n\ud83d\udc97&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.girlslife.com\/life\/tough-stuff\/42720\/ocd-isnt-actually-what-you-think-it-is\" target=\"_blank\">Thinking traps: what they are and how to deal with them<\/a><br \/>\n\ud83d\udc97&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/The birthday blues are an actual thing: Here's how to deal with them\" target=\"_blank\">The birthday blues are an actual thing: Here&#39;s how to deal with them<\/a><\/p>\n<p><small><span class=\"marker\">Top and slider image: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C9P4PFmJs8o\/?img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@itscaroxline<\/a><\/span><\/small><br \/>\n<small><span class=\"marker\">GIFs via <a href=\"http:\/\/giphy.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Giphy<\/a><\/span><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Truth: Major life transitions are often bittersweet. Some might feel positive on paper, like starting your new dream summer job, but come with a rush<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1736,"featured_media":283462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[283,313],"tags":[1276,2130,2697,9182,614,285,45921,1203,1342,156,13263,8731,6426,6466,2512,23609,314,58473,151,1672],"class_list":{"0":"post-283460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-life","8":"category-tough-stuff","9":"tag-college","11":"tag-friendship","13":"tag-growth","14":"tag-life","18":"tag-mental-health","21":"tag-mind","22":"tag-moving","23":"tag-tough-stuff","26":"tag-transitions","27":"tag-wellness"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1736"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlslife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}