It’s Never Too Late For A Career Change!

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You spend a long time working. A long time. Whether you leave school early and get a job, or you leave college in your twenties and start out in your career, you could spend forty or fifty years of your life working – if not more. And when you’re dedicating so much of your time to something, you should really be happy about it. Or at least be doing something that makes you feel fulfilled. Yet, a lot of the time, you may find that we actually end up in jobs that we don’t like. In careers that aren’t right for us. And because you know that you need a job, you accept that. When really, you need to acknowledge that that’s just not right. In this day and age, where there’s so much opportunity around, there’s no excuse for you to be unhappy in your career.

Now, it’s easy to believe that changing careers is hard. Or that it’s going to be too much work. Or that you just don’t have the time or opportunity to do it. But that’s just not true. Because you do. And you can. No matter what you would love to do with your life, you can do it. You just have to make a few steps – and they’re much smaller and simpler than you think. Then, you’ll realize that these few small steps allow you to really transform your career. No matter how big or small the change seems. Let’s take a look at how.

Acknowledge Your Feelings

To start with, you have to pause. You cannot just decide that you’re unhappy in your career one minute, and then look to make a big change the next day. Because that may not work. While the steps you take to make a successful change are simple, they can be profound – and you have to dig deep before you can act. So, you start with your feelings. Ask yourself – what don’t you like about the work you do? Why are you unhappy right now?

Pinpoint What’s Up

As you start to address these issues, you’re then going to want to make sure that you can actually pinpoint the problems in your current situation. Is it the work? Is it the industry? Are you using the right skills? When you know what is wrong, you can start to think about what would be right. What skills you do want to use, or what industry you’d like to be in, and so on.

Know What You Want

But now, you also need to understand what kind of career you do actually want. It’s so important for you to understand and appreciate what is destined for you. It’s important for you to know your passions, skills, desires, and what will make you happy. And this can take some time. But when you are able to have a better understanding of your desires, you can then go after it.

Adjust Your Mindset

And now, you need to make sure that you adjust your mindset. You’re not just going to be able to decide that you know what you’re doing and then dive on into it. You have to make sure that you shake off any doubts that you have, and that you believe that you can do it. When you level up your mindset, you’ll find that it’s easier for you to then embrace changes and start moving forward with your career.

Do Some Research

From here, you’ll then want to think about doing some research – because you’re going to find that if you want to make a change, you need to be able to work out what. There will always be requirements for what you want. And you need to know what they are so that you can then create your action plan and start out on your journey.

Look Into Education

Now that you know what it takes, you may find that you need to go into education. You’ll want to look into what you need to do. Whether you discover classes at the University of Alabama Birmingham, or you find online vocational courses that will give you skills. When you know what education you need, it’s easier for you to grow.

Intern & Learn

You may even want to think about whether you need to do an internship or get some kind of guidance. Do you want to learn from others? Maybe you want to apply to shadow someone that you respect? Or you want to find yourself a mentor? It’s important for you to be proactive here, so that you can find the best possible opportunities.

Network With Others

From here, you also need to make sure that you are putting yourself out there a bit more and networking. Sometimes, it can be really hard for you to think about meeting new people and being vulnerable. But when you start networking and you’re able to connect with people in your network or field, you open yourself up to new ideas and opportunities that can help you to grow.

Step Outside Of The Box

You may even need to step out of the box here. Perhaps go big; head back to college to become a nurse or doctor. Do you love doing hair and makeup? Perhaps beautician school is for you. Postal worker is another great carrier. You may be asking yourself, how do I become a tile layer? or How do I become a home inspector? Either way, no matter how much of a change it may be, its always worth a shot!
Because if you’re playing it safe or you’re following your old path, then you might need to make changes. Think about what you can do now that’s different, that will allow you to grow. And when you do that, you’ll start to realize that you’re happier in your career.

Enjoy The Journey

Finally, you absolutely need to make sure that you just enjoy the journey here. Your career isn’t a destination – it’s a path. So, you have to be sure that you are taking a step back and that you’re in love with your journey- with each part. With the work you’re doing today. It’s not a race, you’re not racing to get somewhere, you’re just simply aiming to build a career and do work every single day that fulfils you. And now that you’re on track, it’s time to enjoy it.