Moving Forward in the In-Between

Design: Experimenting Toward the Next Season

By this point in a season of transition, something has likely begun to shift. You’ve slowed down enough to notice what is changing. You’ve started to name what matters most—your needs, your values, your direction. And now, a new question begins to emerge: What do I actually do from here? It’s a natural question. But it’s also one that can pull us back into old patterns—trying to make the right decision before we take any step at all. What if there’s another way?

Moving Forward Without Forcing Clarity

Many people assume that clarity must come before action. But in seasons of transition, clarity often comes through action. Not big, final decisions. Not irreversible commitments. But small, thoughtful steps. This is what I mean by Design. Design is not about having everything figured out. It’s about beginning to move forward in a way that stays aligned with what you’re discovering.

From Decision-Making to Experimenting

Instead of asking, “What is the right next step?”, we can ask a different question: What is one small step I could take to explore what might be next? This shift matters because experiments:

• reduce pressure
• create learning
• keep you moving
• allow clarity to grow over time

Rather than waiting for certainty, you begin to gather insight through experience.

What Thoughtful Experiments Look Like

Experiments don’t need to be long or hard. They are often simple, intentional actions that help you test direction. For example:

• Having a conversation with someone in a role you’re curious about
• Exploring a new opportunity on a small scale
• Reallocating time toward something that feels more aligned
• Saying no to something that no longer fits

Each step becomes a way of asking: Does this align with what I’m discovering matters most?

Paying Attention as You Move

Design is not just about taking action—it’s about paying attention while you do. As you take a step, prayerfully notice:

What gives you energy?
What feels aligned?
What feels off?
What surprises you?

This is where discernment continues. You are still listening. You are still discovering. But now, you are also learning through experience.

A Simple Experiment to Begin

If you’re in a season of transition, consider this:

What is one small, low-risk step you could take this week that aligns with what you’re discovering?

If it feels final or too long-term, that’s probably not what you’re looking for. You’re looking for something that allows you to explore, notice, and learn…not lock you in. Write it down. Take it seriously—but hold it lightly. Then pay attention to what unfolds.

When Movement Feels Difficult

Even small steps can feel challenging in transition. There may be uncertainty, fear of getting it wrong, or concern about how others will respond. That’s normal. This is why many people don’t need more information—they need support in moving forward thoughtfully.

You Don’t Have to Figure It Out Alone

This is often the point where conversations become especially valuable. Not to give you answers, but to help you:

• stay aligned with what matters most
• reflect on what you’re learning
• make thoughtful adjustments as you go

If you’re navigating a transition and finding it difficult to move forward, this is exactly the kind of work I do in coaching conversations. A simple, focused conversation can often help you take your next step with greater clarity and confidence.

What Comes Next

As you begin to take steps forward, something else becomes clear: This journey was never meant to be walked alone. In the final post of this series, we’ll explore what it looks like to Find your True North—and walk it with support. Clarity deepens and direction strengthens when we move forward with others.

Reflection Question:

What is one small step you could take this week that would help you explore what might be next?

Tim

P.S. If you regularly walk alongside others in seasons of transition—as a coach, pastor, or leader—I’m hosting a live webinar called Walking with People in Transition, where I share practical frameworks and tools for these conversations.

You can learn more and register HERE:
https://www.encompasslifecoaching.com/webinars

And if you’re navigating a transition of your own, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I’m always glad to connect for a thoughtful conversation.

Clarifying What Matters Most in the In-Between

Discover: The Second Movement in Navigating Transition

In seasons of transition, something begins to shift as you learn to slow down and listen.

You start to notice patterns.
You become more aware of what feels life-giving—and what doesn’t.
Certain questions rise to the surface and don’t easily go away.

Discernment creates that kind of awareness. But eventually, another question begins to emerge:

What does this reveal about what matters most now? This is where the next movement in the journey begins.

From Awareness to Clarity

Discernment helps you notice what is happening. Discovery helps you understand why it matters.

Without this step, transitions can remain confusing longer than they need to. You may see what is shifting, but still feel uncertain about direction. Often, that uncertainty isn’t because you lack options. It’s because what matters most hasn’t yet been clearly named.

Why So Many Transitions Feel Unclear

In my work with leaders navigating change, I’ve noticed something consistent: Many transitions feel disorienting not because people lack ability or opportunity—but because there is a lack of clarity around needs and values. We may ask:

What should I do next?
Which opportunity is best?
What is the right decision?

But underneath those questions are deeper ones:

What do I actually need in this season?
What matters most to me now?
What kind of life or leadership am I being invited into?

Until those questions are explored, decisions can feel uncertain—even when good options are available.

Understanding Needs and Values

Two things tend to guide clarity in this stage:

Values point to what matters most.
They shape direction and help you discern what aligns with who you are.

Needs reveal what sustains you in this season.
They help you recognize what is necessary for you to live and lead well.

When needs and values are aligned, there is often a sense of clarity and energy. When they are misaligned, even meaningful opportunities can lead to frustration or exhaustion.

A Simple Way to Begin

If you’re in a season of transition, one of the most helpful places to start is simply naming your needs and values more clearly.

Not perfectly.
Not exhaustively.
Just honestly.

My Needs & Values Worksheet will help you begin that process. This worksheet gives you:

• A list of common needs and values to reflect on
• Space to identify your top 5 needs
• Space to identify your top 5 values

It’s a starting point—not a final answer. But even this level of clarity can begin to shift how you see your situation. If you’d like a simple place to begin, this Needs & Values Worksheet can help you name what matters most in this season.

Download the free Needs & Values Worksheet
https://encompasslifecoaching.podia.com/needs-and-values-worksheet

What You May Begin to Notice

As you work through something like this, patterns often begin to emerge. You may realize:

You’ve been operating in ways that no longer align with your values
You’ve been meeting responsibilities while neglecting important needs
You’ve outgrown certain roles, expectations, or environments

Or you may simply gain language for what you’ve been sensing all along. And that language matters because clarity begins when you can name what matters.

Going Deeper

This worksheet is just a starting point. In coaching conversations, we often go further—exploring how these needs and values show up in real decisions, relationships, and leadership contexts. That deeper work is what helps people move from:

“I think I know what matters…” to “I’m clear enough to move forward with confidence.”

Why This Matters Before You Move Forward

It’s tempting to move quickly from awareness to action. But without clarity around needs and values, action can feel scattered—or misaligned. Discovery anchors your direction. It becomes a kind of internal compass that helps you move forward with greater confidence and integrity.

What Comes Next

As you begin to clarify what matters most, a new question naturally begins to form: What might it look like to move forward from here? In the next post, we’ll explore the third movement in this pathway:

Design — experimenting toward the next season with thoughtful, values-aligned steps. Clarity grows as you begin to take small, intentional steps forward.

Reflection Question

What feels most important to you in this season—and how clearly have you named it?

Tim

P.S. If you’re navigating a season of transition and would value help clarifying your needs, values, and direction, this is often where coaching conversations become especially helpful.

And if you’re a coach, leader, or care provider walking alongside others in transition, my webinar Walking with People in Transition offers practical tools—including how to guide discovery conversations like this one.

Learning to Listen in the In-Between

In seasons of transition, the instinct to act quickly can be strong. When roles shift, opportunities change, or familiar structures begin to loosen, many of us feel pressure to make decisions as soon as possible. We want to resolve uncertainty. We want to regain direction. But in many transitions, the wisest step is not acting—it is listening.

This is where discernment begins.

The Work of Discernment

Discernment is not passive waiting. It is attentive listening.

Listening to what is happening around you.
Listening to what is stirring within you.
Listening for the quiet invitations that may be emerging beneath the surface of change.

In transition, we experience the unraveling, but there is often more unfolding than we initially realize. Externally, circumstances may be shifting—roles, relationships, expectations, or opportunities. Internally, something may also be changing—your energy, your desires, your sense of purpose, or your understanding of what matters most in this season.

Discernment creates space to notice these movements before rushing to resolve them.

Naming What Is Shifting

One of the most helpful early practices in discernment is simply naming what you notice.

What feels unsettled right now?

What questions keep returning?

Where do you feel tension?

What seems to be ending—or beginning?

These questions are not meant to force immediate answers. They help bring clarity to what is already unfolding. Often, people assume they need solutions when what they actually need first is awareness.

Allowing Tension to Speak

Many transitions contain tension.

You may feel pulled between stability and change.
Between responsibility and freedom.
Between what has been meaningful and what may be emerging.

Our natural instinct is to eliminate tension quickly. But discernment invites a different posture: curiosity. Instead of asking, How do I fix this tension? we can begin asking: What might this tension be revealing?

Sometimes tension points toward growth.
Sometimes it signals misalignment.
Sometimes it simply reflects the complexity of the season you are walking through.

Discernment allows us to stay present long enough to learn from it.

Paying Attention to Patterns

As you slow down and listen, patterns often begin to appear.

You may notice certain conversations energize you while others drain you.
Certain ideas or possibilities keep resurfacing.
Certain longings feel more persistent than they once did.

These patterns are often clues. They do not yet tell you exactly what to do next. But they begin to point toward what may matter most in the season ahead. Discernment gathers these clues before moving toward decisions.

A Simple Practice for the In-Between

In my coaching conversations, I often invite people in transition to create small rhythms of reflection.

This might include:

• journaling what you are noticing each week
• bringing your questions into prayer
• paying attention to what brings energy or resistance
• having thoughtful conversations with trusted companions

I’ve also created a simple tool called the Navigating the In-Between Reflection Guide, designed to help people name what they are noticing during seasons of change.

You can download the free Reflection Guide here.

The guide isn’t meant to produce quick answers. It simply helps you listen more carefully to the season you are in. And that kind of listening often becomes the foundation for wiser decisions later.

The Next Step in the Journey

Discernment helps us slow down long enough to understand the season we are walking through. But as patterns begin to emerge, another question naturally follows: What does this season reveal about what matters most now?

In the next reflection in this series, we’ll explore the second movement of the pathway:

Discover — clarifying the needs, values, and deeper motivations that guide our direction forward. Because once we begin to see more clearly what matters most, the next steps in transition often become easier to design.

For Reflection…

What have you been noticing in this season of transition that might be worth paying closer attention to?

Tim

P.S. If you’re someone who regularly walks alongside others in seasons of transition—as a coach, counselor, mentor, or leader—I’m hosting a live webinar called Walking with People in Transition where I share practical frameworks and tools for these conversations.

And if you’re navigating a transition of your own, sometimes the most helpful next step is simply a thoughtful conversation. I’m always glad to connect.