Do You See a Career Change In Your Future?

 “In a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks. – Warren Buffet

If after last week’s post, you’ve taken the fear goggles off and can now see clearly that it’s time for a career change… that’s great!

I know it can be scary but once you make that decision it can be much easier than you think, especially when you go into your career transition with clarity and confidence. Plus, I’m willing to bet you’ll look back later and be glad you did it. So, in this post, we'll discuss how to find clarity (especially when feeling overwhelmed by your options) and then next week I’ll share some important steps you need to take before leaping into a new career.

Clarity Builds Confidence and Gives Direction

When you know what you want, and why you want it, you can be sure that your efforts will be focused on bringing the results they were meant to—and that's going to make all the difference in helping you get from where you are now to where you want to be. Without direction, you will likely find yourself way off course. Some things to consider are:

• Know what you want to do. The first step in making a career change is knowing what you want to do. If you aren’t sure, it’ll be difficult to find a job that fits your interests and skills. Leaving you once again, in a job you’ll hate. So make a list of the things you love doing, that interest you and the things that challenge you. For example, if helping people excites and motivates you, but writing isn't one of your strengths, then maybe becoming an HR manager would be better than becoming a journalist. Being clear about what role suits your personality can help narrow down the options for jobs in those fields and focus your efforts.
• Define your ideal life. The best way to know what you want to work for in life is to know what your ideal life is. Put together a list of things that would make your ideal life complete. Don’t worry about practicality at this stage (you can sort that out later). Knowing what your ideal life would be will help you identify what might be negotiable or non-negotiable in your future career. I often tell clients who want to build a business plan that the real gold is in creating a lifestyle plan. Then you build your business around that. Remember, we don’t live to work, we work to live. So, know what kind of freedoms and the lifestyle you want your career to provide by getting clear on your ideal life. Note: this isn’t just about monetary means, although that matters too. This is about the experience of life you want and the feeling you want to have about your work. Include all aspects of your lifestyle such as where and how do you want to live, the kind of schedule you want, how you want to feel in your life and work, etc.
• Identify your priorities. A list of goals and ideals are a good thing for anyone who's trying to change careers—but making sure those things align with what matters most is even better. Know what’s most important to you and be sure you’ve clearly defined those priorities. This is where you identify which of the items from your Ideal Life List matter most and prioritize them in your career search or transition. This will help you determine if you want to work for someone or be independent. What you want the culture of your work environment to be. What type of people or company philosophy aligns with your values and ideals. Etc.

Now that you’ve got clarity about what matters, you’re ready to take the next steps so you can leap into a new career path. Be sure you watch for the release of next week’s post so you can find out what those steps are.

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