What Career Change is Right for YOU?

The thought of changing careers can be hugely exciting, but let's face it... deeply scary at the same time!

I understand that.

Before I was even able to contemplate the idea of leaving my job in banking, I was faced with a huge amount of fear:

• Fear of not having a transferable skill set - I mean, I've worked in banking all my professional life and this was the only work environment I knew how to navigate!
• Fear of not making enough money, and having to jeopardize my lifestyle - how could I do that with two young children?!
• Even worse, following something I was passionate about and not being able to monetize it!

But the reality is... The change that you deeply crave wouldn't force you to a position where you'd be worse off or even unable to do a great job!

You might not know what the change itself is, but you know HOW you want the change to make you feel and WHAT it should bring you:

1. Satisfaction: a job that will make you feel happy and proud of what you do in the world.
2. Excitement: you want to wake up happy to go to work and finish the day with a sense of accomplishment.
3. Money: the ability to (at least) maintain your lifestyle.

And all of these are the non-negotiables that will support you in achieving success.

You see, this is the core that you need to explore.

Like when you want to get fit!

You don't know straight away if you'll do Pilates, Zumba, Spin classes, or even start to run. But you know your physical goals: you know how you want your body to look.

So let's apply the same logic, to get you unstuck in understanding what career change is right for you.

???The first thing that any coach would tell you is that you need to define your goals: what are your short, medium, and long-term goals?

Where do you want to be in the next three months, 2 years, or 5 years?

To define your goals you need to allow yourself to daydream: allow your mind to explore the type of career that will make you happy and fulfilled, with no fears or limitations.

Once you have an idea of what you want to do, apply the 'reality' lens to it: how can you achieve that type of career in a way that gives you the lifestyle you want?

???Let's look then at the GAP: the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

To close that gap, you need to understand: a) your full skill set; b) your support network; c) what can you personally commit to, in terms of dedicating time to make the change happen; and d) how far away are the goals to where you are today.

???Make your success non-negotiable: be honest with yourself and define a vision for your career that you deeply want!

Anything short of that will be very hard to achieve, as you will lose your motivation along the way.

I know from personal experience that if you start a project in which your heart is only half in it, you won't be able to finish it!

Why?

Because unless you feel that you almost can't live without the vision, you won't commit 100% to make the change. If you feel the change is a 'nice to have', you won't put your full energy and focus on it - and that's just a fact!

I remember when I started to contemplate the idea of doing something different - I was a project manager in the strategy area at this point - and so I started applying for similar types of roles within other banks.

But what's interesting is that I wasn't even able to read the full job descriptions! Why? Because they were boring me...

So I never really moved banks! Having to go through dozens of job specifications, tailor my CV, and rounds of interviews just seemed too much of a price to pay for a change I didn't feel would make me happy! Doing the same thing, just somewhere else...

So if you feel like you can't (even) commit to updating your CV and applying for jobs, don't be too harsh on yourself!

It's not that you don't have what it takes - it's that the change you're looking at it's not giving you what you want!

So, go back... and define what is a non-negotiable for you and explore a different way to achieve it.

And if you need help doing it, like with any effective physical training, get a coach!

If this resonates, I invite you to watch my training 'Get Career Clarity (with three simple steps)' so that you get unstuck and start defining your strategy to have it all! ???

https://mailchi.mp/coachingforprofessionals/careerclarity