How to deal with a transition?

What if the secret to making real change is to manage the transition successfully?

Hong Kong is experiencing an unprecedented period of transition since 2019. According to CNBC, Hong Kong lost 93,000 residents in 2020, followed by another 23,000 in 2021. But early estimates show this year will see far more people go.

Many people go through life changes without realising how important it is to manage transitions first.

Let me offer some simple explanations of the difference between transition and change.

Transition is invisible and change is visible.

Transition is what happens psychologically, and change is what happens physically.

Transitions are based on mindset and concepts and change is based on actions.

Transition is a bridge and change is a destination.

By now, you probably have figured out that transition needs to happen first before change happens. This is why dealing with transition is important.

Here is an example of how the transition has gone wrong for an early Hong Kong immigrant to the UK.

Judy and Peter were a couple in Hong Kong, they decided to retire to the UK with their family in the 1990s.

They sold their flat in Hong Kong and bought three houses in the UK, one for themselves and one for their older daughter, and another for their younger son.

Each year, Judy and Peter travel back and forth between the UK and Hong Kong and spend six months in each country because they don’t have the right of abode in the UK.

Since they did not want to leave their houses empty, they traveled separately and lived mostly apart from each other for nearly 30 years, until Judy was too old to travel.

In the last stage of Judy's life, her poor health condition did not afford her to fly back to the UK. She lived in a care home in Hong Kong for two years before passing away.

Almost immediately, family members noticed that Peter has suffered from dementia, and he got diagnosed shortly after. He lost the capacity to manage his own life, let alone look after his UK homes.

Peter is still the rightful owner of his own house and partial owner of his children 's properties in the UK, however, the loss of his mental capacity prevents him from making a will and appointing a power of attorney. All his affairs are suddenly in the air.

Peter's house in the UK has been empty now because he has not been able to live in it and it is too deliberated to be rented out.

It is likely that his children will have disputes over properties when Peter passes away because there is no will.

To this day, Peter still has not got the right of abode in the UK which makes looking after him very difficult for both of his children who now live permanently in the UK.

What options are left for Peter? They are very limited.

What could Peter have done in the past 30 years to make his transition easier?

He could have applied for UK citizenship.

If that fails, he could have remained in Hong Kong until both of his sons move to the UK. Then he could try applying for UK citizenship again.

Peter and Judy could have kept their flat in Hong Kong and rented a house in the UK until their UK citizenship was sorted.

He could have made a will about his assets.

He could have appointed a power of attorney.

He could have transferred their assets to her children, which would have reduced the percentages of UK inheritance tax his children will be required to pay before redeeming properties he owns in the future.

Unfortunately, it seems like Peter and Judy have mismanaged their transition and it’s too late to go back. So, dealing with transitions is a conscious process that is better dealt with at the beginning of making a change.

Can you recall one change in your life that went particularly well? How did you manage the transition? What were your thoughts and concepts that guided you through?

Learn from your own positive experiences and let them help you become more aware of how to manage your next transition in the future.