Are you feeling frustrated, exhausted, bored with yourself for going around and around in circles inside your head for months or even years thinking about making a change?
Do you watch the days, weeks, months and years go by and get increasingly cross with yourself while you feel paralysed and end up in the same place again, another year later?
One of the best pieces of advice I can give you to start to break this cycle is really simple: Write down a goal and tell someone about it.
“This year, I am going to find work I love and move into something new”. Writing it down makes it real, tangible and means you are committed to it. That probably feels scary too!
At the moment, the idea of career change probably feels massive; like staring up at a mountain to climb and feeling like it’s just too exhausting to even start. There are too many questions, too many options, too many fears and uncertainties. When you look at it like that - it’s no wonder it’s an easier option to do nothing.
Writing a simple, clear goal is taking the first step on the journey to the top of the mountain.
One of the things I hear time and time again, is “I don’t have time to even think about it”. Again, this really comes back to the paragraph above; it just feels too big and scary, so I’ll ignore it, fill my time with family, work, hobbies, the gym etc and then it’s not my fault, I simply don’t have time!
Another really simple thing you can do is MAKE TIME! Block an hour a week in your diary- in one go, or in a series of chunks to focus on your career change. Let me tell you this, if you don’t give your dream a chance to flourish and grow, it will wither and die; become a pipe dream or a stone in your shoe that just won’t go away. Once you’ve got this time booked in your diary, set some actual actions to take during that time rather than just aimlessly browsing. Again, your actions down and tick them off when you’ve achieved them. Actions could be researching one industry you’re interested in, looking at what qualifications might be needed for something your interested in, arranging to speak with someone you know who does something you could be interested in. Action = movement, another step on your journey to the top of the mountain.
If you can, don’t do it alone; get support - ask for ideas, help, accountability, start talking about your ideas; you’ll find people are always interested, may know someone who can help or will ask you how you’re getting on - which means you actually have to do something!
Good luck! I’d love to hear from you if you’re starting your career change exploration.
Sign up here for regular news and inspiration for your journey: