Transitions

Making Sense of Life's Changes

By: William Bridges, Susan Bridges

Narrated by: George Psomas

The best-selling guide for coping with changes in life and work, named one of the 50 all-time best books in self-help and personal development
Whether you choose it or it is thrust upon you, change brings both opportunities and turmoil. Since Transitions was first published, this supportive guide has helped hundreds of thousands of readers cope with these issues by providing an elegantly simple yet profoundly insightful roadmap of the transition process. With the understanding born of both personal and professional experience, William Bridges takes readers step by step through the three stages of any transition: The Ending, The Neutral Zone, and, eventually, The New Beginning. Bridges explains how each stage can be understood and embraced, leading to meaningful and productive movement into a hopeful future. With a new introduction highlighting how the advice in the book continues to apply and is perhaps even more relevant today, and a new chapter devoted to change in the workplace, Transitions will remain the essential guide for coping with the one constant in life: change.

Critic reviews

Excellent.—Racine Journal Times

Provid[es] an elegantly simple yet profoundly insightful roadmap of the transition process.—Cleveland Sun Messenger

Enlightening

Beautiful book about a classical human life topic rarely articulated. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Entender las diferencias entre cambio y transición

Este libro es uno que se debe leer al menos 1 vez en la vida...sin duda te ayudará a entender mucho de tu vida y a tener una mejor hacia el futuro.

It's a classic for a reason

This is a phenomenal book. To say it was helpful for me is a huge understatement. Bridges' definition of the stages of transition was eye-opening and helped me to make sense of the multiple transitions I've been going through over the past few years and to have more patience with the unfolding. Bridges helped me to understand that this place that has felt like a painful and unproductive plateau in my life--what he calls the Neutral Zone--is an essential part of the growth process necessary to move forward into something new. He makes an important distinction between change--which is external and doesn't spark any internal growth or evolution in the individual--and transition, which leaves us transformed. That transformation takes time, and learning that this process is universal and essential helped me to have more compassion for myself and more patience with the process.

I should point out that I didn't find the beginning of the book--about transition stages in relationships and the work life-- helpful to me where I am in my life right now. I was on the verge of abandoning the book entirely, but it had been recommended by someone I respect, so I decided instead to skip ahead to Part II, The Transition Process Itself. This section is absolute GOLD. As far as I'm concerned, the two sections could have--and maybe should have-- been separate books, since their focus is so different. I loved learning about the stages of transition and all of the nuances of the Neutral Zone, and Bridges' use of the Oedipus and Odyssey myths to illuminate aspects of the journey was helpful and enjoyable to me.

My only complaint is that the narration was a bit annoying--not enough to outweigh how great and powerful the book is, but enough to irritate me. The narrator reminded me of mediocre actors who overact everything. His assumption of a higher pitch in his voice whenever reading quotations by women in Bridges' workshop was at best silly and at times, borderline offensive. He clearly didn't have a feel for the book, and at times it seemed like he hadn't even read it before narrating it. But I forged ahead nonetheless because the wisdom of this book was too good to miss out on, and since Bridges is dead, we can't very well expect him to narrate it himself.

I intend to buy the print version of this book so that I can reread and highlight certain sections and make annotations for my own use.

If you are in transition in your life, whether from a job change, the death of someone close to you, a divorce, children leaving the nest, or any number of other transitions that people experience in a lifetime, and you are bewildered, stressed, or feeling wrung out by the process, download this book right away.

7-21-24 Update: I did eventually buy the paperback, and by the time I read that first section again, I found it valuable. I also was better able to understand the connection between the two sections of the book that second time around. It just goes to show how the way we change over time affects the way a book like this resonates.

Wise and Timeless

An older mentor type friend told me about this book and how much it helped him with a work related transition some thirty years back. I was not disappointed and the three phases of transition rang true. In some places the discussion seemed a bit dated and overwrought but nevertheless timeless and universal. I didn’t think the additional update material by the author’s widow very helpful. Felt like she was adding her name to the byline on the new edition by putting in some extra padding that actually detracted from her husband’s work.

Great book

Best book on transitions I’ve ever found. I see now why it’s a classic and still around decades later. The content is relevant throughout all of life.