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Five Ways to Make Starting a
New Career Less Scary
by Leslie Godwin
If you believe most of the current magazines that profile successful
entrepreneurs or others with high-profile careers, then you probably
think that the best way to change careers is to close your eyes, max
out your credit cards, and leap off the cliff. While that makes for a
great story, the truth is quite different, and less risky. Most people
that have changed careers successfully have done one or more of the
following.
Here are five ways to make starting your new career less scary and
more rewarding:
1. Planning And Clarity Make The Unknown Known...And Less Scary
What type of career change will meet your needs? Slow down and explore
as many options as possible. Marci Taub, co-author of ³Work Smart: 250
Smart Moves Your Boss Already Knows,² notes that it is important to
³clarify whether you need a full career change, a career shift, or an
industry or sector change before you leap.²
The more specific your plans, the less scary they are. Find out as
much as you can about your prospective career. This could include: the
number of working hours typical of that career, any specialized
training you'll need, and if there's a lot of burnout in that field.
Another reason to plan ahead: the higher the risk of your new venture,
the more planning you need to do to increase your chances for success.
2. Talk To Others Who Have Changed Careers Lately
If you are working in a secure job for a large company, you are
probably surrounded by others working in secure jobs for a large
company. These are not the people who can give you advice about
changing careers. Even worse is hanging around with disgruntled types
because they support your ideas about leaving. Their unhappiness can
be contagious. The fact that they are miserable but not willing to do
anything about it but complain confirms that they have nothing to
teach you.
On the other hand, if you talk to people who have just made the change
to a career that is meaningful and satisfying to them, they have a
wealth of information that will be useful and motivating. Find out
what their concerns were, and how they've handled them. What would
they do differently? What do they recommend for your situation? Talk
to enough people that you get an overview of what it takes to make it
in a new career.
3. Talk To Others Who Have Long-Since Changed Careers
Temper the enthusiasm and optimism of those who have just made the
change, with the wisdom and depth of experience of those who see the
big picture. When you talk to people who made a significant career
change quite a while ago, you learn what works over the long-run, and
what to do when the excitement wears off. Do they still like what they
do? What challenges took them by surprise, and how did they respond?
How much of their success was due to their own efforts as opposed to
being in the right place at the right time? Keep asking different
people until you notice patterns of how the process unfolds for most
people.
4. Soul-Searching Prevents Making The Same Mistakes In New Career
Don't just use your intellect; use your intuition. To soul-search
means to contemplate your situation based on what your SOUL cares
about. That might include:
your quality of life
the meaning behind what you do
spending time on what you care about
understanding that your life has a deeper purpose than just making a
living
Depending on your personality, you may need to do more or less
soul-searching. If you tend to act impulsively, and seem to
continually end up in similar problematic situations, you need to do
MORE. Therapy or career coaching can help you better understand why
you want to make a change, and can help you ensure that you arenıt
just running from one bad situation to one thatıs even worse.
But if you tend to agonize over every decision, large or small, and
would much prefer to think through every detail until the opportunity
is no longer available, you may need to do LESS contemplating and more
doing.
True insight and curiosity about what makes you tick doesn't lead to
endless procrastination. In fact, the better you know yourself, the
less likely it is that you'll allow yourself to be tripped up with
insecurities or needing to prove yourself to others.
5. Put Your Career In A Larger Context
If you define yourself by your job title, salary level, or other
aspect of your career, making a change will feel like changing your
identity. However, if you see your place in the universe defined by
more than your job, you'll have a sense of simply taking a new step
down your unique path.
How can you make your career change less scary? There are lots of
ways. These are just a few. I hope they get you started on your
ongoing journey. Let that journey include understanding yourself
better all the time and making career choices that enhance ALL aspects
of your life.
Leslie Godwin, MFCC, is a Career & Life-Transition Coach specializing
in helping people put their families, values, and principles first
when making career and life choices. Leslie is the author of, "From
Burned Out to Fired Up: A Woman's Guide to Rekindling the Passion and
Meaning in Work and Life" published by Health Communications. For more
information, go to www.LeslieGodwin.com.
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