Change freaks people out. It just does. Career change is not about changing jobs. Similar to how losing weight is not about counting calories. It’s an entire lifestyle change. As a two-time career changer I can tell you it is scary, but I also know it’s possible. In my experience coaching people directly about career navigation, I’ve noticed there are three factors that influence a person’s actions with regard to changing a career or even returning to the workforce after an absence. Combined with my understanding and training in the fields of of human behavior, individual and group psychology, and coaching, I’m throwing this out there!
By getting a hold of these three factors, you can begin to plan a new professional future at the intersection of RISK & REALITY.
Emotional Response to Change
Change evokes emotion, even when it is changing from something we don’t even like. We trade comfort in for fulfillment on a regular basis. It’s what keeps us in the wrong relationship, eating the food we know that makes us feel gross, and yes, in the jobs and careers that are just not aligned with why we are here.
How do we remove this resistance to change? Well, first we have to admit that it is there, and then we have to be willing to stop suffering. We often make things bigger in our heads that it really is. It’s not that change isn’t scary at times, it’s just not the size of the monster you imagine. Once you can identify how you usually respond to change, you can begin to chip away at it and start to take new actions. The funny part is whenever we resist change we almost always (on the other side) realize it wasn’t that bad, or at least not as bad as we thought. Think of a time you feared something and realized your fear was bigger than the actual event or change? There you go. We don’t really REMOVE the resistance we simply change our relationship to it such that in influences our actions. This creates results that were not possible on the fearful side of the resistance.
Financial Reality
Without a compelling relationship to our finances, we often convince ourselves that we are truly stuck with a career that satisfies our demanding mother or discerning father, or even our own expectations of what we “should” be doing. We’ve made one crucial error with regards to job change. We’ve embraced an either/or mentality that blocks us from changing. We are either financially safe, secure, and gainfully employed, or a crazy renegade gone broke to chase a dream. So yes, career change is yet another area we must bring moderation to. How do we do that? By getting profoundly related to our worth, our marketability, and actual paths we can take financially to navigate our road to fulfillment sans gypsy mentality of throwing caution to the wind (no offense to gypsies by the way…I rock my own gypsy soul into the mystic on a regular basis). We can also be introduced to the middle road and what that looks like. It’s literally sitting down with a calculator, speaking with mentor or coach who has successfully gone through the process, identifying your current responsibilities and what a career change COULD look like.
Perception of Success
Our perception of success is highly skewed. There are many factors that contribute to it. I’m going to suggest this happens partly by watching shows like American Idol or Shark Tank and expecting to be miraculously discovered. Some people really think that luck is the sole force that creates an overnight sensation and we’ve told ourselves we can’t achieve that. That is for OTHER people. The problem is you never see that former American Idol star singing in the church choir or performing in front of an audience of four at a seedy bar (actually you do in the montage after they win but you are not really paying attention!). You don’t watch a movie of those lucky moms from Kansas on Shark Tank when they were bottling homemade applesauce in a barn outside their home. You only see their GLORY DAY. Those people WORKED hard.
Is luck a part of success? Absolutely. Luck is part hustle, part serendipity. One of my favorite books is “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson. The Slight Edge is really just a common sense principle that daily repeated actions pave the road to success.
“The truth is, what you do matters. What you do today matters. What you do every day matters. Successful people just do the things that seem to make no difference in the act of doing them and they do them over and over and over until the compound effect kicks in.”
If you are local to New York City, I’ve invited some pretty incredible people to present an interactive event entitled “Career Change Confidential” With a team of sponsors from a variety of industries who’ve all made successful changes, and the financial straight talk of Amanda Steinberg, founder of Daily Worth, we are out to give you access to what the “Career Change Big 3” mean to you. If you are considering a career change now or next year, or are about to navigate your way BACK to the work force, this is your time. With trained professionals who not only love what they do, but do it well, you can’t lose. Join us Monday 10/20 from 7-9pm at GRIND – 1412 Broadway at 39th Street. Snag the early bird rate of $119 which expires Friday 10/10. CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE & PURCHASE TICKETS. Oh and P.S. – We feed you!
The mission of Sound Change is to dramatically increase the number of professionally self-expressed people on the planet.