Endings create the space for new beginnings

Change starts with endings, not new beginnings.

In his book Transitions, William Bridges describes the three stages of change:

Endings. The Neutral Zone. New Beginnings.

Every change begins with an Ending because something old must be released before something new can take its place.

Old beliefs, old skills, old processes, old technology, old business models, old assets, old thinking.

This is where so many of us get stuck, wanting clarity about the future before we’re willing to let go of the past. But change is much harder when we work this way.

What comes after every Ending Bridges says is, the Neutral Zone. It’s messy, uncertain, and uncomfortable. It’s also essential.

It’s where we unlearn, reimagine and prepare for what’s new to come. It’s where growth begins.

A new seasons crop doesn’t start growing until the old has been harvested, has spent time resting and repairing and new seeds planted.

Our New Beginnings, like new harvests, don’t appear as automatic extensions of the past. They emerge once we’ve truly let go of the old.

Hold on too tightly, and we stay stuck and can’t grow what’s new.

Where we let go and create an ending from the past, the beginnings of a new path reveals itself.

The time change knocks for you, don’t immediately jump to asking: “How do I fix this?” Instead ask: “What can I do to release the past so I can move forward more easily to new beginnings?”