Step Five: Evaluating what skills you need

One helpful way of dealing with a new role is to look at the skills your old and new roles require and what you can do to make sure you have the skills you need to do well in the new role. For example, if you changed jobs from being a cowboy or cowgirl to being an astronaut, you'd no longer need to know how to rustle cattle and throw lassoes, but you'd better learn pretty quickly how to pilot a spaceship.

On a more “ordinary” level, suppose you went from being a freshman and spending most of your time with your friends to being one of the best relay runners your school's track team has had in 10 years. You'd need to learn to manage your time between your studies and your friends and your track team, and you'd need to learn how to balance what your teachers require from you, what your friends want and need, what your team performance requires and needs, and your own goals for yourself.

Think about the new roles you might have taken on recently, and what sort of skills each new role requires. Examples might include managing your time better, compromising well with other people, listening more to other people, being able to plan fun things to do, or working harder than you're used to. You can also think about what additional skills you might need to make the transition happen-that is, not just how to do well in your old role or your new role, but the skills to make sure you make the transition between those roles without causing big problems for yourself. To help you with this process, you can make your own chart line the one below: