About the Book

Anyone facing an unplanned work or life transition, or deciding to plan one, will benefit from reading Living Through Transitions. Dr. Sharyn Salsberg Ezrin, an applied psychologist, faced an unexpected health crisis that led to her having to rebuild her work and life over a period of three years. This book originated from the discovery that many other baby-boomers like her had stories of their own transitions.

Her advice on facing an unplanned transition will help you understand how the process can become healing or beneficial. She also offers a framework for planned transitions, an approach she has used and developed over the years in her professional practice. Her wealth of insight and experience is enriched by inclusion of transition stories she collected during in-depth interviews.

Ultimately, Salsberg Ezrin believes a work or life transition is an end in itself, not just a means to an end. In this book, she shows that the key to moving through and beyond a crossroads in your life is to treat the transition as a time to build a new foundation for whatever comes next.

About the Author

Dr. Sharyn Salsberg Ezrin is an organizational psychologist and executive coach with over 25 years' experience in the public and private sectors. She is also a community leader and an award-winning professional, teacher, author and media commentator.

In response to Dr. Salsberg Ezrin's leadership in bringing mental-health issues to the forefront in Toronto, she was awarded the Ontario Psychological Association's Public Education Award for 2001. Dr. Salsberg Ezrin has been quoted in Canada's leading business and national media. Her articles on a wide range of topics have appeared in the Financial Post, the Toronto Star, and Canadian Business.

Dr. Salsberg Ezrin's website: www.transitionstory.com

Reviews

Living Through Transitions:
Harnessing Your Courage at a Personal Crossroads, Second Edition
Sharyn Salsberg Ezrin
Trafford Publishing
Softcover $19.98
176 pages
978-1-4120-6840-6
Three stars (out of Five)

Living Through Transitions demonstrates that fundamental personal change, like greatness, is sought by some and thrust upon others. One cannot jump to the end without working through the initial jolt and the trying middle, difficult tasks eased by this book. The major division is between planned transitions, which call for "courage of the mind," and traumatic unplanned transitions, which make individuals reach inside for "courage of the heart."

Unplanned events typically loom so monumental as to be dividing milestones in the lives of the people experiencing them-i.e., the death of a loved one or being fired. Such prima facie tragedies may actually end up being growth experiences, but before one can view them as such there is a trial of time and a series of further challenges. Some friends then reveal themselves to be the fair-weather variety, but those who willingly remain contribute to the crucial recovery of self-confidence.

A planned transition like ditching a steady-paying yet soulless job for a dream situation of lesser stability has the best chance of a happy outcome when the person undertaking it isn't exhausted, anxious, or in debt. Ezrin suggests building a fund equivalent to a half-year's expenses so a new occupational prospect can develop at a sustainable pace. She has no particular advice for working class or poor aspirants unable to set aside such a cushion, a weakness more glaring than the limited age demographic of the target audience (boomers born between 1946 and 1964).

A huge positive aspect of planned change is the fact that various specific outcomes could turn out to be satisfying and sustainable. As a ghostwriter simply identified as "Bill" told Ezrin, "Wherever an arrow makes a solid hit is where you draw the bullseye." The groundwork for this book consists of seventy-five interviews with people who experienced major transitions. Illustrative anecdotes gleaned from interviews blend harmoniously with the general line of reasoning; commonalities of experience reinforce understandable instructions. The theories are more sensible than revolutionary. To increase lay readability, in-text references to scholarly works are sparse, though a more substantial bibliography is provided.

Ezrin worked as an executive coach and an outplacement counselor to the newly pink-slipped for twelve years, and was employed as an organizational psychologist for twenty-five. Her base is in Ontario, though her husband's past career as a diplomat posted abroad provided opportunities to learn greater flexibility. Of life in India, the author says, "I allowed my own plans to merge with the unexpected along the way." Banishing rigidity of mindset is certainly a precursor to a program of change. The other intentional decision which results reliably in forward progress is lending a hand to those who face struggles of their own. The author tells readers, "When you offer to help others, your goodwill, energy and support will also nurture the courage in your heart." Living Through Transitions takes all that and more, but given a core of fortitude, a handful of true friends, and a little time for reflection and re-collection, total restructuring can absolutely be accomplished.

Todd Mercer

Excerpts