The importance of reflection while testing out new careers

When changing career, we try out different types of areas and work to see what they’re like to actually do. And as we try things out, or commit to trying something out for a while even if we’re not sure if it’s what we really want or not, we discover what we enjoy and what we don’t. And it’s super important to set a little time aside to get these things down on paper and reflect, rather than carry on with it in a less mindful way, or if you haven‘t been enjoying it, to abandon it without getting anything from it.

For example, as possible career areas you may have got down to gardening, fitness instructor, and youth work. And you may have tried these things sequentially (try one thing then move on to the next) or a mix of these at the same time over a period of months. Either way I’m sure you would have found out which aspects of the different areas you enjoy and those that you don’t. You may have found the right new career path you wish to pursue in the long term, but you may also have discovered that you’re not sure about any of these areas!

If that happens, you may feel like you’re back at square one - that the things you thought you’d be perfectly suited to don’t actually fit in reality, so now what?!
It’s actually a good spot to be in. If you’ve tried things out and they’ve really jarred with you, or felt totally wrong and uninspiring, then you’ve learnt more about yourself - what makes you feel unmotivated or bored or anxious. This is why you have to reflect a little and get down on paper what was wrong with the things you tried.
It’s also important not to throw out the baby with the bath water. For example if you’d taken a horticulture-for-hotels-and-corporate-clients course  - upon reflection was it the actual gardening that you didn’t like or was it the pressurised client-based content of the course you were taking? Likewise if you tried out youth work, was it the counselling side of it you didn’t enjoy or was it the age range of the people you worked with? What can you take from these try-outs and how can you shape them into being more like the kind of work area/career you’d enjoy?

All you have to do is flip it around to get a sense of what you do want - so if it was eg working with young people that you didn’t like, then what kind of people would you like to work with? If high-end client-led gardening stresses you out, who would you like to make gardens for instead? The answers will probably be quite clear to you as you reflect. These questions and reflections will also make you feel your core values and career needs more clearly, to guide you in refining down the kind of career you want.

Also throughout this process of trying out career areas it’s really important to give yourself credit for taking these trials and testing things out. Every new experience is a lesson and something to build on, even if you’ve tried something and it felt like a complete waste of time - it never is, there’s always a lesson to be learnt. And the more you try things out, the easier it can be to put yourself in new situations, which is something many people find very hard to do (without someone literally holding their hand!). So no matter if you haven’t hit on your perfect career yet, you’ve made gains and covered a lot of distance - you probably only need to look back to what you thought you knew before trying thee things out to see how much you’ve learnt and changed. And by going through this process you’re getting much much closer to being able to clearly identify what you want from your career.