Change Your Career and Change Your Life
Jan 11, 2021
Do you have a role in the workforce? Are you operating from a degree you earned in college, trade school, or a certification program? Have you taken the entrepreneurial route and blazed your own trail, or have you inherited your gig from a family line of business? When did you begin this career? How’s it going so far?
Those are a lot of questions and not usually the sort of thing people ask regularly. Everyone has an origins story of how they started working or doing what they do. They may have went after it with full intention or they may have stumbled and fell into it unexpectedly. The biggest question for anyone is: How happy are you in your current career and could changing your career change your life?
Our working years are some of the longest on our journey. Getting our education, raising a family, and retirement aren’t usually longer than our career. Our work history is generally a significant portion of our lives. Sometimes what we started as a young adult isn’t as interesting to us in midlife or later. Sometimes our needs shift and the reasons we stay in a career change.
Let’s take a look- In our young adulthood, we may be influenced by these factors when choosing a career:
- Parents or adult expectations
- Geography
- Economics
These factors have a big influence on what we decide to do. Our parents may have expectations or our culture may dictate that parents have authority over our career choices. Relocation may not be an option so a career may be based on what is available in our area. Whether we have the income to get the right degree or certification may determine what line of work we choose.
As we get older, we may be influenced by these factors:
- Benefits
- Income
- Seniority
These factors have their own influence on our choices because they often mean stability, access to healthcare, and retirement income. Though we may not have the same interest we once had for the work, the benefits are often outweighing the disadvantages.
If you are in a career that feels tired, old hat, and unfulfilling, it might be time to consider making a change. Sometimes the things we fear losing outweigh the benefits we perceive will come. Sort of how the fear of the unknown is worse than staying in something you know you don’t love, but can predict will be safe. That’s no way to live!
If you are going to spend time away from your family and likely the best and healthiest years of your life, it is important that you spend that time doing something you love. Consider these ideas that can help you make a career move:
Interview someone doing the work you’d like to do and ask for input about what they did to break into that career- Many times folks who are working at doing the thing you find interesting are open to spending some time chatting or mentoring you. Be bold and ask for a moment of their time.
Explore going back to school- It is never too late to get the degree or formalized training you need to break into a new career. Explore your online, on-site, and other options to get that education!
Consider becoming an entrepreneur- You may not need any formalized training to change your career. You may simply need to step out in faith and begin.
Start a side hustle to explore and see if your idea has merit- If you aren’t sure that your idea is a true career, test the market and see if there is interest. Work your new venture out on the side and see where things lead.
If you feel stuck, bored, or like you’ve missed out in your career, it is not too late to change your career and change your life.
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