If so many of us want to change then, why don’t we do it? Here are three counter-intuitive steps you must take to finally launch your mission to do something you love.
Sick of your job? You’re not alone – research has shown that 60-70% of people would like to change their work. As American comedian Drew Cary says:
“Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar.”
If so many of us want to change then, why don’t we do it? Here are the most common problems people report to me – which of these do you recognize yourself?
- You liked your job at the beginning and it took a while to notice it was no longer exciting you
- You’re not what sure what work you would enjoy
- You know what you’d rather do but can’t see how on earth you could make the switch while keeping a roof over your head!
Whatever the reason, and despite spending a lot of time thinking and worrying about it, the bottom line is that you’ve never quite reached escape velocity to break free. Many years ago I was at the same point so I sympathise - it ain’t pleasant!
Are you ready to try something very different? Here are three counter-intuitive steps you must take to finally launch your mission to do something you love.
1. Dare to dream
If you feel stuck choosing what to do next, I guarantee you have failed to separate what you want from what you think is possible. You must, at least for a while, allow yourself to dream a little. Write a long list of anything and everything you might like to do for your work even if you have doubts or it seems completely impractical.
Later in the process you can go back and brainstorm ways of getting as close as possible to the work options that appeal to you most. Even if your initial idea is impossible, with some lateral thinking you can still create a working life that gives you the part you love most from it.
2. Stop thinking & researching
After a while, ruminating on what work you would enjoy is not helpful. In fact, it keeps you stuck. Endlessly researching is similarly problematic. Exploring an area of work you’re interested in is fine, but beware the habit of looking for reasons why it’s not possible for you. If you look for reasons why it won’t work, you’ll find ‘em!
The people with the coolest careers in the world didn’t ask “I wonder if this is possible for me?”, they decided what they wanted and threw everything they had at making it happen.
On my Screw Work Let’s Play Programme based on my book, we make career changers launch a short “Play Project” to throw themselves into trying out the new line of work they want. That way they learn far more than they ever would by sitting around thinking and researching – and all before they quit their job!
3. Don’t do it on your own
Unless you have remarkable self-discipline plus the ability to think open-mindedly at all times, it’s really tough to make a big career change or start a business without a lot of support.
What happens too often is that you start with the best intentions but then you get busy, life gets in the way, and people around you persuade you how risky it is to do what you’re considering. The result? Another month slips by without changing.
It is essential that you surround yourself with people who believe in you, in getting paid to do what you love, and will hold you accountable to keep working on this career change.
Most of the people I work with want to escape the world of jobs altogether and make their own income. But if you spend all your time with people still stuck in jobs they don’t enjoy, it is unlikely that you will ever escape. Start mixing with people who represent the lifestyle you want to move into – more creative, more entrepreneurial, more independently minded.
Your fuel is the enthusiasm and encouragement of others. Get plenty of it and you’ll finally be able to reach escape velocity and break free of the gravitational pull of your job.
Leave a comment below: How can you trial out a career idea or meet up with others to get support to help you move forward in your career change?
John Williams is author of best-selling book Screw Work, Let’s Play (How to do what you love & get paid for it), named a Buzz Book by the Sunday Times.
Download a free chapter of John’s best-selling book Screw Work Let’s Play (How to do what you love & get paid for it) plus worksheets and audio guides to help you find work that feels like play
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