Are you thinking about changing your career and exploring opportunities? When you’ve been working for your career for some time, it can be challenging to let it go. I remember the moment when I was working for a law design firm and realised it wasn’t for me. I had spent years in education and practising my craft, and I loved it for many years. But there was a moment when I looked at myself and said I don’t want this in the next five years.
Heck, I don’t want to be doing it in the next ten minutes. I craved change and wanted to head out in a new direction. But how? How do you go about changing your career from something you’ve worked in hard to something that’s entirely different and new?
In this career guide, you’re going to find out.
Develop an Understanding of Your Situation
The first thing you need to do is delve into your mindset to understand why you’re considering making this move in the first place. Are you sick of your job? Are you depressed with your life? Do you hate your boss? Are you not getting along with your colleagues? These are all important questions you need to ask yourself.
If you lack motivation in your job, then you need to think about what you would rather do. There’s no point in abruptly leaving your job then being directionless whatsoever, especially if you need the money. You don’t want to propel yourself into a financial crisis if you can help it. Once you’ve developed the understanding, you’ll be able to start making a proper movement towards the direction you actually want to be heading in.
What’s Holding You Back?
Another essential question you need to ask yourself is ‘what’s holding you back?’. Are you saying to yourself that you’re scared of changing your career? Are you afraid of making a change? Do you think you’re too old to make a change? Do you lack the qualifications or education to make a change?
Answering this question is important because it will help identify what obstacles you’ll need to overcome. In short, you’re never too old to change your career, and there’s always time to start training and educating yourself if you want to head down a certain path.
Look at What Opportunities You Have
“There are more opportunities out there in the world than ever before, and it’s important for you to realise this because it will unlock so many doors for you. I’ve seen people above the age of 80 making huge followings on typically younger social media platforms like TikTok because they’re doing what they want to do and they’re having fun,” explains Sarah Harrison, a writer at Draftbeyond and Last Minute Writing.
They’re not letting fears or anxieties get in the way of what they want to do. Understanding that you can practically do whatever you want to do is a huge power, so get out there and look for what’s available. Think outside the box and be as creative as possible.
Start Moving Forward
Once you know what you want to do and how you want to do it, it’s time to start thinking about taking those first steps. Do you need to train, get educated, or get a qualification? If you do, start working on it. Do you need to sort out your financial situation? Sure, then get working on it.
Do you have mindset issues you need to overcome, such as being scared or being stuck in your ways? Then work on them. Whatever obstacles you highlighted above, now is the time to start working on getting them out of your way.
Go for Opportunities
Sooner or later, there’s going to be a time when you need a leap from the edge and make stuff happen. This could be leaving your existing job and career or signing up and applying for a new one.
“Every time you do something in life, it’s going to be scary the first time you do it. That’s just how the mind works. It doesn’t know what’s going to happen, so it makes you feel cautious about doing it. Even if you’ve had, left, and applied for jobs before, if you’re changing a career you’ve been in for 40 years, then yes, that’s a long time, and it’s going to be scary,” shares Mary Harper, a career blogger at Writinity and Researchpapersuk.
The trick is to just do it. Nine times out of ten, the first time you do something, you realise afterwards that it wasn’t actually so bad. The same applies here. Sure, you might get rejected from a job, but that doesn’t mean the hunt for a new career is over. It’s only over when you say it’s over, and as long as you keep trying, it’s one day going to pay off.
Go In with a Strong Mindset
As you can see from our guide here, the most important thing you need to focus on during a career change of any degree is your mindset. You need to be thinking about how your mind is holding you back and how you want to be thinking to move forward.
Alas! Master your mind. Master your life.
Ashlee Jones is a recruiting manager and helps select prospective candidates in order to prepare them for job interviews and find the best opportunities they can. Ashlee enjoys writing on different aspects of human resources analysis, as well as travelling around the world in her free time!
Keep following wikye.com for more
