What to do when you are ready for a career change

You wake up in the middle of the night - again.  You are in a cold sweat and you think –“I don’t think I can continue working at XYZ Company. It is literally sucking the life out of me. When I was 20, or 21 or 22 I thought , wow, this is great – so many of my friends don’t know what to do with their careers, but me, well I am certain this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” Now you are 40 or 50 or more and you wonder, “What was I thinking?”  But you don’t know what else to do.  This is what you trained for, this is ‘who you are,’ and besides, you have commitments – a family that depends on your salary.  You “think, I don’t know what else to do – I’ve done this job my entire adult life.  Who would hire me at a new career or a new field, at this age?  With no experience?”  You feel paralyzed and trapped.  Alone.  Maybe a bit guilty, berating yourself for choosing a career path that isn’t working out.

OK – what can you do about this? 

Let’s talk about the positive outcomes of a negative situation.  You could keep your current job while exploring something outside the realm.   You could find a hobby, reignite something that you loved doing in the past – learn a musical instrument or relearn;  learn to dance, paint, cook, treat your job as a job, not the end all and be all – find your joy, your sense of purpose in your life outside of work.  It is a paycheck, not who you are.

If that wouldn’t work for you, what is stopping you from exploring  opportunities  in a field you might want to get into? What would you do if there were no limits?  Fantasize about what it might look like.  Who would you be? Where would you be?  What would this new job look like?  No one is forcing you into doing anything.   Look into how you might need to reeducate yourself – imagine how great it would be to learn something new!  More important, do you feel you deserve this something new?

After that exercise, sit with yourself for a bit – a day, a week. How does it feel?  Do you feel excited?  Nervous?  Ambivalent? 

Do you want to continue?  Do you want to make a move?  You can you know.  It won’t be easy, it will be scary, but in the end, worth it in ways you can’t imagine! Take a step…