Top Tier Tips for Later in your Transition

For every trans person, transition comes with a slew of physical, emotional, and biological changes in life.

This, in itself, can be overwhelming. However, in addition, a trans person might end up flatlining in their personal growth and change, which can be a problem.

This is referred to as the trans plateau. However, when people transition, they become an entirely new version of who they are and must determine what kind of a man or woman they want to be.

In essence, this entails knowing that there is room for improvement and working towards it. There may be scope for fine tuning your voice or how you sit. You may have a list of things that you know you must improve upon.

But, you may have shelved it in the later stages of transitioning.    

 

Among the things that are often shelved is the voice. Many trans people stop working on their voices after a certain point. However, voice may be one of the most important aspects of transitioning, especially if you want to be passable.

Moreover, voice is a crucial part of a person’s identity and thus, your perceptions about yourself can be shifted when you work on your voice during transitioning. However, this is just one aspect. 

There is a more abstract, ambiguous component to transitioning associated with who you are as a person, how you think, and how we deal with our hurdles. All of these are important things to work on.   

 

If there are aspects of your growth and transition that require effort, you must apply yourself every day and work on it consistently to become the person that you want to be.

As a you transition, you may find a list of things that you are required to work on. It is undoubtedly overwhelming.

It is likely that it is not the entire list; there may be many nuances to it that you have to work on.

With time, you may strike away some of the bigger things on the checklist, while minor aspects may be incorporated.

For instance, you may have finally completed voice transitioning but you now want to learn how to walk on high heels.

Or you may have just started using nail polish. These intricate changes are last stage transitions.  

Therefore, as you move forward in your transitioning journey, you will find newer priorities. This is important, because entering the trans plateau can actually lead to feelings of depression.

The reason is that you may feel like you have made all the changes you want to, and yet, there is a sense of incompleteness.

This is why it is very important to determine what has been overlooked in your transitioning journey, so you can start working on it.

You may have had an image of who you wanted to be after you have completely transitioned and it is important to keep working towards it. However, that is just one aspect- the tangible one.

There is also a more personal, higher level aspect to this- developmental aspect that entails personal growth. At this point, it is important to understand that this would be a continuous process.

There is always scope to grow and change to become the man or woman you want to be. In fact, this need not only encompass trans-related growth and changes. You may want to learn a language.

Or a musical instrument. These are all factors that contribute to your personal growth and add to who you are as a trans person. 

Going back to the example of voice, it is the most common aspect that is neglected or overlooked by trans people. Why? Because it is a very challenging hurdle to overcome.

Yet, if you ask a group of trans people, if they want to improve something, many would cite their voice as something that needs change.

Therefore, later stage transitions often include things that you have deferred because they are challenging.

However, if you really want something, you must work on it even if it takes months to master. It is time for you to make a list of things that you want to prioritize. Then, invest and reinvest in them. 

What areas of femininity do you want to enhance? Are there specific attributes that you want to foster and develop? If you know there is room for growth, you must pursue it.

If you are struggling with motivation, remind yourself why you wanted to transition in the first place.

Remember how you felt when you were ticking things off your checklist. You can experience that level of euphoria again if you put in a little work. The payoffs will certainly be tremendous. Good luck!! 

Found this article useful? Find more like it on our MTF Transition Hub