Tessa Spring

It was a full moon in May last year, and I could feel my step mum Carol’s warmth as I held her hand until the early hours, while she slipped away aged just 78. We had been in each other’s lives since I was four, back in 1989.

Carol had long thought about moving home, but the right support never came in time. After a fall, she went into care and lived just one more year. Grieving her passing made me dig deeper than I had before and spurred me on to create a service that enables others before crisis forces their hand. Prevention – putting wellbeing and suitable living environments first – matters.

Why transitions can feel overwhelming

A move is rarely only about bricks and mortar. More often, it reflects a bigger shift: a career change, a family transition, a health challenge, or a reassessment of what matters most. Even choosing to stay put can raise questions. Does your current home still support your wellbeing, or has it become a compromise that no longer feels right?

I know how unsettling these crossroads can feel. After my daughter was born, I developed a spinal compression fracture caused by rare condition pregnancy osteoporosis. Recovery was long and difficult, but it became a much-needed turning point.

I trained in coaching and yoga after years working in housing and planning, and my partner and I even considered moving last year as part of our wider reassessment of life, work and family. These experiences convinced me that transitions of all kinds benefit from space to reflect and ask the right questions.

Reflective questions to guide you

If you are facing change – moving home or otherwise – try pausing and reflecting on these prompts:

• What does “home” mean to me: safety, belonging, self-expression, family, retreat, or something else?
• Where in my life do I already feel “at home” – in myself, my community, my relationships, my work or my surroundings?
• Where am I now in different areas of life: social life, health, family, work, finances, values, purpose, wellbeing?
• Where do I want to be in each of those areas, and how does that connect to my living environment now and in the future?
• If nothing changed in the next year, how would I feel?
• Looking to the future, what kind of space and community would best nurture the life I want to build?

Even brief reflections can bring clarity, helping you see what matters most and where to take small steps forward.

Approaches that can help

Some simple coaching tools can make transitions feel less daunting:

• Break big questions down. Instead of “Should I move?”, try “What three things do I most want from where I live?”
• Reframe uncertainty. Rather than focusing on what might go wrong, ask what opportunities could open up.
• Balance accomplishment and well-being. Notice whether you are striving for outcomes at the cost of your health, or maintaining your wellbeing at the expense of progress. Recognising this balance helps you set goals that are both realistic and supportive.
• Explore options and overcome obstacles. Consider the different paths open to you and how you might navigate challenges. Draw on your strengths, past experiences, and vision for the future. Remind yourself of your goals and what matters most to you to turn uncertainty into clarity.
• Build accountability. Set small, achievable actions and revisit them. Progress often comes from steady steps.

Starting your next chapter

Carol’s story stays with me as a reminder that waiting until a crisis can narrow our choices. Whatever transition you are facing – moving home, changing career, adjusting to parenthood, or preparing for later life – the most useful step is to pause and reflect.

With the right questions, change can shift from overwhelming to possible, and even hopeful. This is at the heart of this service: creating space to reflect, build confidence, and move towards choices that support your well-being.

Some final reflections 

• Which parts of my life feel aligned, and which feel out of step?
• How is my current environment supporting me or holding me back?
• If I imagined the next chapter of my life, what would I want it to look and feel like, and what would I be doing?
• Where is home to me, and what does home mean?

This can be a helpful place to start when thinking about a life shift or where you might want to move to next.