“All great journeys start with a single step” as the old adage says. Starting your career transition is no different. Unfortunately, another adage rings true “taking the first step is the hardest”. Many successful professionals I’ve worked with, feel that their current role is not giving them the personal fulfilment or quality of life they need. However, the daunting prospect of making a career change throws up some serious barriers to even taking that first step.
Some of the things you might be thinking as you consider a career change include:
- I have a huge amount of time and experience invested in my current career – I don’t want to start again from scratch
- I’ve reached a level of financial income and security – I can’t go back to living on the breadline just to do work I love
- I have responsibilities now – family, mortgage, loans. I should do the sensible thing
These are all natural and rational thoughts to have. A career transition will always involve taking some risks. Unless you can overcome some of the underlying fears associated with these risks, making the first move may never happen.
So how to take the first step? One great way to start is to assess your motivation for making a career transition. What is it that is calling you to find a new vocation? Perhaps you’ve always felt the desire to be more entrepreneurial, or to do something that you feel makes the lives of others better. For everyone, including you, there will be a unique set of factors that combine to motivate you to find a new role.
A great way to really understand your motivation is to consider your core values. What are the rules, principles and priorities that are fundamental to your being? Your values could include concepts such as honesty and integrity. They may also involve ideas such as being a provider for my family or doing something meaningful for other people.
If you can, take a few minutes to write down at least 10 values that guide your life and how you live it. A good rule for finding values is that if you act in a way that goes against your values you’ll feel a negative emotional response (for example for someone who has truth as a value and deliberately deceives another person, they may often feel guilt and remorse).
Once you feel this list is complete and reflects who you are, congratulations you have taken the first step to your career transition process. Your values give you some clear criteria to assess how you may feel about different paths you could take. If one of your most important values is financial security for your family, a career transition can only work if you plan it to ensure this security is maintained. Think through what life may be like on the different paths you are considering and which of these paths best fit your values.
Taking this first step will give you a much more realistic view on the implications of making a career transition. Importantly, it will also help you to find the motivation to get the ball rolling and start planning your future career steps. Seeing how a different occupation may fit much better with your values can provide a real spur to get moving and continue the journey you’ve started.
Taking the first step may be the hardest, however finding your values is a risk-free way to start out on your journey, overcome your fears and find the motivation to move to a more fulfilling career.
Phil Bolton has supported hundreds of professionals to find meaningful careers and achieve a better quality of life. He partners with his clients to create a vision for their career path and to make that vision a reality. Phil is always delighted to have an introductory conversation to see if he can assist with your career transition – call 020 7450 3075, or email pbolton@colosseumconsulting.
Phil is a professional coach with an international client base. After graduating from Cambridge, Phil worked with Deloitte & Touche, for over 10 years, in the US, UK and India. Phil has made his own career transition and believes that everyone has the potential to create their Less Ordinary Career. He blogs about this at www.lessordinaryliving.com.
Phil is a professional coach with an international client base. After graduating from Cambridge, Phil worked with Deloitte & Touche, for over 10 years, in the US, UK and India. Phil has made his own career transition and believes that everyone has the potential to create their Less Ordinary Career. He blogs about this at www.lessordinaryliving.com.
Try out a practical exercise to help you figure out what your values are: Values: the internal compass that points to fulfilment
Are you ready to change career but don't know where to start?
Then the brand new Careershifters Guide is designed for you.It will take you step-by-step through the career change process with practical exercises and expert guidance on how to figure out the career that suits you best through to the practicalities of making the change happen (even when you have a mortgage to pay and family to feed!).
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