Is a career mistake ever a mistake?

You may be feeling like you’re in the wrong job and that you’ve left it too late to make a change and that you made a mistake by going into the career you’re in. It may feel like that last 15 years you have been living someone else’s life and their version of what happiness is. It may feel like you’ve made a big mistake that can’t be undone.

Well, I’m here to tell you that any career move that you make, whether it turned out to be the job of your dreams or not, is no mistake. Every action that you take in life is usually based on the assessments that you have made at that time and you make a decision that is right for you at the time. Even bad decisions that we make are based on what is going on at the time and what, for us at that time, seems to be the best option. However, I believe that you took care, time and attention to make your career decisions at the time you took them and it has helped you to get to where you are today and, in a career, which many people would envy.  So, what’s changed? You have!

Donald Super, a well-respected career theorist, talks about the phases of ‘exploration’ and ‘establishment’ in his Career Development theory. He states that during the ‘exploration’ stage, we are finding out about ourselves through undertaking hobbies and activities and working out what type of career would suit by doing courses, learning new skills and work experience. This then allows us to consolidate what we have learned and leads us into a firm career area. After some years we then move into the ‘establishment’ and ‘maintenance’ phases, where we will stay until retirement, or as Super calls it ‘disengagement’. 

In theory, this sounds great, however, in practice as we know, it’s not all black and white and what we wanted when we were younger, is not necessarily what we want or need now. I believe that people go back and forth between ‘exploration’ and ‘establishment’ throughout their lives and can and should revaluate where they are if they are not happy in their career and strive to find the reasons why. It always saddens me that my clients, who are all successful and confident people, feel condemned to a life of drudgery because that was the path they chose in their 20’s. It definitely doesn’t have to be that way, despite what society and social norms lead us to believe.

It should be encouraged to ‘make mistakes’ and try out new things at every stage of our lives. As we change and develop, our careers should too. Our beliefs, values, and priorities change as we get older and I believe that this should be reflected in our careers. These, of course, will differ from person to person but your career should reflect what’s important to you and the only way to know what that is, is to experience things, talk to people outside of your usual circle, go for that promotion, take a side step, study something new but most of all take chances and don’t be afraid! If you get down a path that isn’t for you, reverse, re-evaluate and start again. There’s no need to be stuck or feel ashamed if something doesn’t work out. The only ones who will care about that are the ones who wouldn’t dare make a change or take a risk in their lives, but instead prefer to continue on aimlessly and deeply unhappy, making people who do want to better themselves feel bad about it.

So, the next time you feel you’ve reached a dead end and need to change course, don’t feel like you’ve made a mistake, instead, use this moment to reflect on the following points:

·        What have you learned?

·        What did you enjoy about that job that is no longer fulfilling you?

·        Why did you take the job in the first place? Was it because you thought the role would interest you at the time, but now you’ve realised that it’s not an area you want to explore anymore?

·        What is it that is not satisfying you about your current job? 

·        What can you do to gain more clarity?

·        Have you ‘explored’ enough or would you benefit from the opportunity to see what else’s is out there?

·        Do you know what your next move is? How have you made this decision?

The list could go on, but answering these questions will enable you to see why this career is no longer serving you, but it's important to note that you could have only known this by being where you are now. You are at a different viewpoint now than you were before, which is why you can only see this now. So, in other words, you haven’t made a mistake, you’re still exploring you.

If this has sparked your interest, get in touch to arrange a free introductory call or skype session, where we can explore where you are and where you want to be. It's not too late.