The power of re-framing: Be your own Career Change Spin Doctor

In acting, a huge bulk of what you can do when you get a script is to just reframe. You're given a set of circumstances, 'facts', words put together into sentences and then you go off and put a spin on all this. You test out what it's like to think of the circumstances in the script as something bad that's happened to the character, so the character is a victim. Or you can think, ok, well what if I 'see' this as a series of challenges that are put in the characters path to make them grow as a person?

When you're doing this as an actor it's a very conscious process, and it's a creative process. You often debate about how to 'see' these circumstances and characters with the rest of your troupe. But in day to day real life, we're not so often aware about how we put a spin on every circumstance that happens to us (or that we make happen). We don't sit around and debate what 'spin' we're gonna put on eg a job loss or our spouse relocating for work.

But the 'spin' or 'take' that we put on these things (often big, life changing things) is crucial as to an extent it determines our emotions and feelings to these happenings, which in turn will determine our actions. And this is also true of when we start to think about potential careers that we might like to do in the future.

So when you think about your career change what spin, or take, do you put on it? This could be a way of looking at it, an attitude, a stance, an opinion.

•  it's something I'm scared to do but I feel I have to do
•  it's an adventure
•  it's a journey with lots of observation and journal writing
•  it's a project that has a time limit
•  it's closely tied to my sense of who i am
•  it's a function to help me get more money
•  it's about personal growth
•  it's scary and lonely
•  it's an opportunity to meet new people and try new things
•  it's a chance for me to be my true self
•  it's wishful thinking
•  it's something I'd like to do but it's just too much for someone like me to go through

These are so many ways in which you could 'play' your career change. And each way has its own emotional flavour. If I was playing my career change as 'it's wishful thinking', all my choices and try-outs and research would be based on thoughts like 'I'm only going to try for a little more than what I have now, I can't do anything too bold or fun' and 'I might change to another company but the same role, that would be enough change wouldn't it.' My actions would probably be to play small, and to not set my sights too high.
If I was playing my career change with the view of 'it's about personal growth', my thoughts would be 'I'm going to try out tonnes of new things to push myself' and 'look at all these self-help/life books!', 'the 'outcome' doesn't matter so much, it's what I learn along the way that counts'. The actions I'd take would befit these thoughts.

Chances are your view or stance of your own career change is a mix of a few of these- some you may be mindful about, others may be automatic, reflex viewpoints -  but I think it's good to be aware of how your approach and 'take' on the whole career change process can affect the actions you take (and ultimately the outcome/career you change to).  This is very closely tied to 'limiting beliefs', but I think stances and 'takes' are more broader. It's just how you see your career change overall. If you can frame your career change in a way that makes you feel inspired, happy, motivated and proud to be doing it, then your actions and outcomes are so much more likely to please you.