What separates successful career changers from people who tried to make a move, failed and are still stuck in the same old job that makes them miserable? Simple: the successful one stuck with their change, all the way to that perfect new career.
The bottom line is that career shifting takes time. No matter how dedicated you are, your motivation will dip, often from one week to the next. Pretending this won’t happen is not being brave: it’s just bad planning.
To help you keep on track, here are 3 simple ways to keep motivated throughout your career change. Plus links to places and people that can help out with each, so that you can get started right now!*
1. While you’re online, read (and maybe write) something worthwhile
When feeling ‘down’, career changers spend an enormous amount of time online. Most of this time is spent searching out career change ideas on Google, browsing job sites, or spending time on Facebook. Sound familiar?
If you are going to be online, here’s one simple way to use that time to keep you motivated: read blogs. There are some of the great blogs out there that will make a difference. Here are three to get you started:
1. Seth’s blog
Seth Godin is my blogging god. If you don’t know of Seth, he is a marketer extraordinaire, of the Purple Cow book fame. His blog is not about careers but is well worth reading regularly.
Seth blogs short, snappy posts several times a day. After reading several posts you feel reinvigorated by his take on the world – plus you pick up some great new ideas.
2. Clue Wagon
A fantastic ‘career blog’. The author is a former HR professional. She writes funny yet sharp posts on her and her colleagues’ experience of clueless job applicants.
Aside from picking up very sound tips, you’ll find that the ‘I’m not as dumb as that!’ aspect is heartening in ‘down’ moments. It is American, but don’t let that put you off, most of the content is still very relevant.
3. Free Range Humans My blog (no bias!)
A straight-talking blog about taking a ‘free-range’ attitude to your career: this means being in control of where you roam in your career, and not being penned in to a job-battery-cage that is wrong for you.
Covers all aspects of both career changing and job hunting – from how to decide what you want to how to get there. With free chicken puns. Leave a comment!If you enjoy reading these, and also enjoy writing, consider writing a blog yourself. Blogging can be a great way to both build a name for yourself and keep focussed. Using a website like www.blogger.com a blog is easy and free to set up. Here are some examples of career shifters who are doing this right now:
- One of my clients, who before 2 weeks ago had never blogged, is now writing a great, informative blog about alternative therapies http://www.ahealthydebate.com/
- Another one of my clients is writing a brilliant blog about her career change journey from corporate hell to a world where desk plants are not banned on health and safely grounds. http://theyuccadidit.blogspot.com/
2.Talk with people who understand career shifting
Feel like you’re alone in your career shift? You’re not. Trust me: I coach a bunch of people going through exactly what you are going through, and there are plenty more out there.
To ‘go the distance’, it is invaluable to be accompanied by either a) people who are going through the same as you, or b) a career change professional who can keep you personally motivated.
Where can you find these inspirational people? Well here are two examples right here!*
- Face-to-face London Careershifters workshops
Careershifters runs regular career change workshops in London where you can both meet other career shifters, and get help with your careershift from professional coaches.
- If you’re serious about your shift…. Consider getting a career coach who specialises in career change. This gives you the real, focussed help that will be crucial to keeping you on track and achieving your shift.
3. Remember why you are doing this
When times get tough, knowing what ‘success looks like to you’ and why your shift is important will be vital to keeping you on track. Why? Because if you don’t know what is most important to you about this career shift, and if you don’t have a clear vision of your goal, it’s all too easy to be swayed by the negatives, change your mind and give up when times get tough.
So start your career shift by getting the groundwork right. Here are two ways of doing this:
One option is to work through your values and priorities with a career coach. With the guidance of a coach probing and helping you understand precisely why you are doing this and what success will really look like for you, you can build a solid grounding that will hold you through those wavering moments.
Another option (which I highly recommend) is to invest in psychometric assessments (such as MBTI and 15 FQ+). ‘Psychometric assessments’ may sound odd and scary, but in reality they are one of the most mind-opening things you can do. They are easy, non judgemental, plus they’re kind of fun. These are not like the ‘career aptitude tests’, ‘interest inventories’ or the other quack-y ‘tests’ out there which just tell you ‘what you might like’.
A good psychometric assessment gives you the self-knowledge that provides the base for building a career change plan and vision that will stick. They tell you (among other things):
* How you can shine, what makes you different and special
* Where you are likely to fall down both in your career change and your work environment, and how to work on this.
* Help you understand what situations will or will not work for you, well into the long term.
The quality of the assessments is paramount: there are free options online, but to be blunt, there is a reason they are free! I always recommend using a professional assessor who will follow through with you.
Knowing who to use can be a minefield. My top UK recommendation* is Marc Jerrard (m.jerrard@armadaperformance.com). He is very experienced, has made a real difference to several of my career shifting clients (and me!) plus has the advantage of being very good value compared to the ‘big organisations’ that do this work.
Whichever method you choose to ‘create your base for change’, if you want your groundwork to have a lasting impact through the tough moments of your shift, you need to:
* 1. Write down your reasons for your shift, why this is important to you and what success will look and feel like. This may be in words, pictures or whatever works for you.
* 2. Write down your short and long term shift goals. For example how far you commit to have progressed in one month, 3 months, one year.
* 3. Keep these visible. Often pinning these pages up next to your home desk or computer, or even in your wardrobe door, is enough of a reminder. If you see these every day, you can always hear your ‘best self’ reminding you why you owe yourself the time and dedication it will take to make fantastic, life changing career change.
There you go – three simple tips which really work. But don’t limit yourself to these: if something works for you, do it. This is your career shift: keep on track to make it happen!
* FYI no one pays me for these recommendations. Aside from one blatant plug of my blog, none of the recommendations are for my own businesses. I recommend these people/resources because, out of the huge range of confusing options out there, I believe these are the best, and are worth sharing with you.
Marianne Cantwell helps professionals make fantastic career changes. She specialises in helping jobhunters create the vision for what they want, then helping them get where they want to be!
Marianne runs career move coaching organisation Career Revolution (http://www.careerrevolution.co.uk/) and writes popular career blog Free Range Humans (http://www.freerangehumans.blogspot.com/).
Marianne offers readers of Career Shifters a free introductory telephone session. To arrange a call, email marianne@careerrevolution.co.uk .
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