As a researcher, I have been in a pretty comfortable situation so far. My main driver is my curiosity and over the past three years I have been observing how managers more or less successfully initiated the digital transformation of their business models, strategy, and organizations. One aspect that I often heard and repeated is that transformation is hard. It takes the willingness to take risks, challenge the status quo, initiate projects and only figuring out what exactly to do on the way, be willing to cancel projects that were so promising when initiated but turned out to not work out, and all this of course with taking financial risk. My position as researcher is easy because I was allowed to observe, explore, ask questions, but did not have to make decisions in this situation myself.

It is so easy to say that it is hard, but it only really sinks in when you are in the transformation process yourself.

Now, I find myself in a situation of multiple transformations. I am changing my professional setup – from employed researcher to self-employed strategist, and at the same time I am moving from Switzerland back to Germany.

This includes many things like figuring out how to set myself up as a freelancer, change insurances, find out about how to properly handle custom formalities,  find people to sublet our apartment to, set-up the new apartment, and figure out how to pay for everything while there is no longer a fixed salary at the end of the month and suddenly the unexpected mid-year tax declaration appears on your desk.

Transformation is hard. While this past weekend I had a moment of exhaustion and distress because I felt overwhelmed with everything, I reminded myself of everything I have found out in my dissertation and how I can apply this to my personal situation. The most important thing that cheered me up was the reminder that transformation leads to a new and desired state and bears much potential for positive development. While I am figuring out my new role as I go forward, it is important to keep in mind that I am creating this the way I want it to. This may include financial investments, that may hurt now, but that are just necessary to proceed, and applying an abundance mindset that focuses on the goal and strongly believe that the necessary resources will open up when needed. Funny, how you sometimes have to remind yourself of things that are directly in front of you. Happy Monday!