Career Transition

Get Your Head Right!

There are reasons why people transition from one career to another. This article will provide you with a unique perspective on what can be a stressful situation and hopefully will set you up for a successful and enjoyable journey. Regardless of whether your transition is voluntary or involuntarily you must have a strategy that will ensure your success. While everyone has their own dreams and hopes, all transition strategies must have one common theme as a foundation from which to pursue that new career. That common theme is your “positive mindset”.? Starting your new career is all about how you approach it. Perhaps you are scared, angry or sad about your current situation. You could feel like you should not be in the position you find yourself in. But you will never get where you want to be if you approach this challenge with negative emotions in your heart. This article will help you get your head right and will explain why the services of a professional coach may be helpful.

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First and foremost is that you must believe in your choice, and you must be ready to set a path of least resistance to getting there. Let me share with you a short story that will help you to understand why your mindset is so important and should not be ignored. There once was a man who had a promising career as a power plant operator, and he spent twenty years of his life working that career. But he never quite believed it was his destiny. One day he got laid off. At first, he got angry and upset and had a real struggle overcoming that negativity. He performed his job well and could not understand why someone would let him go. He tried and tried to land another job in the same career, but his heart just was not in it. He was a good husband and father and had to ensure the health and happiness of his family. So, for the next eight years he hopped around from job to job and even landed a similar job for a brief time. Then one day this man was thinking about what to do next and he received a letter from another man promising him that he would mentor him in how to discover his life’s purpose. So, the man decided to give it a try. Soon the man discovered his life’s purpose, and he believed so strongly in his discovery that things began to happen for him. He discovered how to realign his thinking and put his situation in a positive light rather than a negative one. This new career choice was so far beyond what he had been doing previously that people thought he was crazy to believe he could do it. But he began studying the ways of this career and discovered that the activities within this new career choice came naturally to him and he soon began applying for jobs. At first the jobs were in other industries, but the positions allowed him to work at his life’s purpose within the context of the job description. Today he is working at his dream career and is running his own office. His coach and mentor helped him to realize and believe in his real purpose. From there he and his coach developed a strategy for making that career happen. It would not have happened without the services of that coach. Now, let’s look at some practical steps you can take to get your head ready for this important work.

First, you need to run out and get a notebook to write down all you can think of while defining your transition strategy. Buy blue ink pens for notes. Why do I say Blue? Blue has a refreshing and calming effect psychologically and you will need to still be calm but have a refreshed view of your life when you are defining your career transition strategy and action plan. Blue is also considered a power color. You will need to feel the power of your plan as you develop it, and blue ink will help you to realize your inner power. Remember what I said about mindset.

The second thing you should do is “take stock” of your finances. Take out a piece of paper and list all your assets. If you're unemployed, it's crucial to know how long your funds can cover expenses. This tool calculates available cash for planning a job transition. Assess your resources and pinpoint your career needs. Of course, if you are out of work and broke you should consider any kind of employment to keep you fed, clothed and housed while you work on your transition strategy.?? So go ahead and list all cash, savings, investments, jewelry, metals, home equity, IRAs and 401Ks. These are all assets that can keep you going if you need them.

Okay, now consider what will make you happy. If you already know what your new career will be, great. But here is a cautionary note for you. If you transition into a new career simply because it is in demand or pays good money, you will probably not be very happy.? And eventually, your unhappiness will show up in the quality of your work and you could find yourself right back where you started. So, instead of considering what will make you rich or famous consider what will make you happiest. I can assure you that there is some kind of career out there that will fit with what your passion is. Observing people in their workplaces can provide insight into their job satisfaction levels. Ask them why they are so happy. Never accept limitations but overcome them. So, on a new sheet of paper, write down what makes you happiest. What you are looking for is where your passion lies. What is it that you love to do that gives you energy and a feeling of tremendous satisfaction? If you don’t know right now, perhaps you should enlist with the assistance of a Life Coach to assist you with your self-discovery.? The discovery of who you are meant to be will translate into a career choice that will never let you down because you will be doing what you love to do. And when you make the decision to pursue your passion, finding work or starting a business becomes easier because people can see your love for your work all over your face and in your eyes.

On a new sheet of paper write down everything that describes what gives you the most pleasure in life while doing it. Please do not write down doing drugs or other outside stimulation. While these things may be very enjoyable and give you immense pleasure, they are artificial means of feeling good. You need to clear your head to dig out the golden nugget that is your purpose. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying here.? If helping others to feel good is your passion, then that is a good thing and the world needs people who have that ability. Write it down. Get your head right. Make sense? Once you do that ask yourself what it all means. Decide what direction these passions will take you. Call your coach and ask her to look over what you have done and follow her guidance in putting it all together.

Okay, so you now know what it is you want to pursue for that great new career. What will this new career do for you and how will it serve? To build a solid plan going forward you need to know what the career will deliver and what service you are providing. Here is a fact you may not know. When asked what made them successful, famous and wealthy people responded that providing more service than that for which they were compensated resulted in exponential growth. This little fact applies to both business owners and employees. So, once you decide what you want it to do for you and the service it will provide, then you should write down a vision statement of what that looks like. Here is mine, “I am the best life coach possible and people from all over ask for me by name because my services help them manifest their hopes and dreams into a happy and prosperous life.”? Everything I do revolves around this vision and it is so easy! It is crucial to your success that your vision statement addresses what it is that you will provide when you get this new career. Can you see why your mindset is so vitally important to you as a human being? You must find and pursue your life’s purpose. Professional Coaches have the resources available to guide you along that journey of discovery.

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Here is the main step in making everything else fall into place. Every morning when you first wake up and every evening before you go to sleep you will recite your vision statement. Doing this every day will begin the process of reprogramming your belief system. You will begin to believe in what you are dreaming of doing. Soon you will know beyond any shadow of doubt what your purpose tells you to be. It may seem silly to you now, but there is a whole science behind this procedure. All the great self-improvement gurus will tell you how important it is to have a vision statement and a belief in that vision. So just do it and if you need help with it call your life coach.

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Once you do these preliminary steps the rest is simple and will come easy when you are ready. Do not underestimate the importance or the power of this first step in building a happy and prosperous life. Getting your head right will be the difference between an exciting career and a rut job career with no future. The education, job search and hiring process are the easy parts once you know what you are meant to do. Getting yourself ready for this life’s purpose will be fun and exciting.

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Throughout this article I have referred to the use of a coach to aid you with this important work. A Coach has a toolkit that will help you to reach your destiny much quicker and is worth the small investment you may need to make. Your coach will be there to help you ask the right questions and use the answers in that career of your dreams. So, go ahead and hire the services of a life coach and accelerate your forward movement into a rewarding career that you are meant to live. But even if you don’t hire a coach, be sure to get your “right mindset” from the very beginning.? “See you on the happy side of life.”

I am an experienced life coach and career transition specialist and team manager.

I am available by clicking here