Lifequake

How to Easily Recognize if You are Experiencing a Lifequake of Transitions

Coaching
March 18, 2025•2 min read

Life is a series of transitions! In fact, according to coaching.com, there are six different categories of transitional life pillars. At any one time, a person may be experiencing transitions in one or perhaps several different “life pillars.” Let’s explore these different areas of transitional life pillars:

  1. Psychological transitions - overall mental health and states of being

  2. Purpose transitions - what’s next, greater meaning

  3. Personal transitions - relationships, home life, etc.

  4. Physical transitions - health, body, image, and wellness practices

  5. Parting/Passing transitions - managing uncertainty, fear, grief, and death in the face of uncertain times

  6. Professional transitions - career, skills, finances, retirement

Looking over the transitional life pillars list, which categories are you experiencing some sort of change or transition? Within how many of the six pillars are you experiencing some sort of transition? Did you know that one in ten transitions are what is referred to as a “lifequake?” A lifequake is when the season of transition a person is in results in feeling overwhelmed and stuck. A person typically experiences 3-5 “lifequakes” in their lifetime.

Are you curious about the type of transition you are currently experiencing? Would you like to better understand the myriad of emotions and behaviors you are experiencing? Would some language for identifying this stage of life be helpful?  If so, take our free TQ (Transitional Quotient Assessment.  Through this five-minute questionnaire, you will discover whether you are experiencing a season with a common number of transitions, a transitional season causing a time of stress and uncertainty, or a lifequake is underway.

Did your TQ Quotient Assessment reveal you are currently in the midst of a life transition?  Perhaps a lifequake? Having a coach journey alongside a person in times of transition (and certainly lifequakes) helps illuminate the pathway forward. Coaching during a transition can provide you with a deeper connection or articulation of your purpose, clarity, confidence, and perspective. Click here to explore the current transition coaching packages available.


lifequakelife transitions6 pillars of transitiontransition coaching
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Kay Kotan

Kay’s purpose is to Equip and Empower Leaders of Faith Communities How to Engage in More Effective Ministry. Kay Kotan is the founder of You Unlimited (coaching, consulting and training company) and The Greatest Expedition – a collaboration of more than twenty thought leaders providing resources and insights for a congregational journey to develop new MAPS (ministry action plans) to reach new people in your community.  Kay also launched Multipliers’ Movement – a gathering of kingdom multipliers for sharing, equipping, and encouraging. She is a CoachU and Advanced CoachU Graduate, an accredited coach (PCC: Professional Certified Coach) with the ICF, International Coaching Federation, a Certified Path 1 Coach, a TQ (Transitional Intelligence) Certified Coach, and once served on the faculty at Coaching4Clergy. As a passionate lay person, she has a banking background and has been a business owner for more than 25 years. Kotan has served as a church developer for conferences and worked with churches, pastors, conferences, and judicatory leaders across the country for more than a decade. She is most proud to be the wife of Bob for over 30 years and the mother of their adult son, Cameron. Kay is the author of multiple books, workbooks, and resources including Gear Up: Nine Essential Processes for the Optimized Church, Cry From the Pew, Full Schedules, Barren Souls, Being the Church in the Post Pandemic World, and Journey Preparation: Surveying Your Church’s Landscape, as well as the co-author of the books titled: IMPACT!: Reclaiming the Call of Lay Ministry, Small Church Check-Up, Insights on Productivity, Renovate or Die – Ten Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission, Ministry 3.0 and Get Their Name , Ten Prescriptions for a Healthy Church, Necessary Nine – Nine Things Effective Pastors Do Differently, Launching Leaders: Taking Leadership Development to New Heights, Strategy Matters: Your Roadmap to Planning a Strategic Ministry Planning Retreat, Voices of Christmas: A Daily Devotional for Advent and Expanding the Expedition Reach Through Marketplace Multipliers. Mission Possible for the Small Church. Inside Out: Everting Ministry Models for the Postmodern Church, and more. Kotan and her co-author Bradford published their third version of the best-seller, Mission Possible: Simple Structure for Missional Effectiveness. Mrs. Kotan spends her time investing in pastors, laity leaders, congregations, and judicatory leaders through equipping, coaching, and creating resources to help them discover and live into their fullest missional potential of effectiveness and fruitfulness to reach people for Jesus Christ. Through her enthusiasm, truth-telling, and passion, she challenges those who encounter her in both their thinking and their doing.

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