Changing Careers | What does it really take? | The Psychology of Change | Letting Go!

One of the things that drives my work as a Career Coach is the inner knowing that each one of us is here on this planet to do things that we can do better than virtually anyone else. The average person spends 60,000+ hours of their lives working in their career and yet it seems many if not most of us choose our careers at an early age with little to no information about options as well as very limited self knowledge about what is going to work best for us. According to a study by Kelley Services of 119,000 employees in 33 countries, 50% reported being in the wrong career. We all make important life defining decision at an early age and it turns out we often choose wrong. Helping other’s find the right career gives my life meaning.

Are you in the wrong career? If so, what does it take to make a change? Certainly, you need a compelling reason. Maybe you’re experiencing some negatives in your current career such as boredom, perceived lack of future, declining industry, etc. In my experience, "career dissatisfaction" helps motivate change, but by itself is seldom enough. A poll by Gallup discovered that 80% of employee’s self reported as disengaged or highly disengaged at work. In short 80%% of employees are dissatisfied and yet are doing nothing about it. Why?

The reason so many people remain stuck in jobs (not to mention relationships...) is because we are terrible at Letting Go. Most people resist change because they are enjoying secret payoffs for staying stuck. It could be as simple as fearing the loss of income. Sometimes it can be "complicated." For some thinking of a career change triggers challenging emotions such as fear, guilt, shame? Avoiding these types of emotions can keep many in check, working away in a career they are slowly starting to hate. Eventually these professionals check-out.

But how to Let Go? These 3 steps can help you get started:

1.      Look within and list all payoffs you are receiving from staying stuck, both the ones on the surface and the ones deep within.

2.      Take each payoff one at a time and a picture your worst-case scenario and ask, “And then what?” keep asking this question until you can go no further. In most cases you might be surprised where this line of questioning leads. For example, for some people worry over letting go of an unfulfilling job can lead to many other worries culminating in a fear of death. If you've never done this type of exercise I can see how it might sound extremely far-fetched, however, almost every fear (public speaking, interviewing, asking for a raise, etc.) when explored through the "And then what?" lens leads us to some sort of "complete annihilation" type outcome, in other words death. So once we arrive at the "rock bottom" of any fear we can begin to examine the probability of such an extreme outcome with a more objective mind. Is it likely that a career change will really lead to death, abandonment, destitution, banishment, etc.? In most cases it will not.

3.      What steps can you you take to decrease the risk of a negative outcome? This becomes primarily an exercise in research, networking and creativity. What are the projections for the career you'd like to jump into? Have others made leaps similar to the one you are contemplating? What did they learn? What worked? What would they do differently? With some courage and determination you can find the formula/process that can work for you.

Below are 3 resources to help you along your way:

For more information on Letting Go I recommend this book by David R Hawkins. Chapters 2,3 are especially illuminating for those considering a career change.

The mechanics of changing careers is quite straightforward and revolves around 4 steps:

1.      Getting clear on what you are passionate about (Birkman Assessment + Self Exploration)

2.      Defining what you are naturally good at (Birkman Assessment + “Real-Life” Experience)

3.      Establishing what the market will pay for (Research and Networking)

4.      Develop Career Mastery (Promotional Materials (Resume, LinkedIn, Video Resume), Interviewing, Negotiation, Landing, Resilience, etc.)

If you would like support with the above then feel free to reach out to me for an initial consultation.

And last but not least, a great motivational article with excellent tips that I found while researching this topic: https://www.careershifters.org/expert-advice/how-to-change-career-when-you-have-no-idea-what-youre-doing

Comments, insights, questions are all welcome below!