Wouldn't it be great if everyone around you was supportive of your career shift? Unfortunately, the reality is that some of your family, friends or colleagues will advise against career change. They may not see why you want to leave where you are, or they might not approve of the career you think you want to move into.
This can have a big impact. When you're considering something as big and new as a career shift, hearing others voicing your own secret fears can be scary - for many it is the excuse they need not to make the shift.
Sound familiar? Here are 3 things to consider before you give in to those fears.
1. What do ‘most people’ really think?
What do most people really think and feel when they see people around them take a leap?
Well here’s a clue: almost all of the successful career changers I have spoken to (a lot!) say that that when they resigned, people in their workplace came up to them and said “I wish I had the guts to do what you are doing”.
When I handed in my notice at Disney to move out of television and on to something new, I expected colleagues to think I was crazy for giving up a position many people would fight to get into. Not so. I had people up to vice president coming up to me and whispering “Good on you. I wish I could do what you’re doing”.
Given the high percentage of people in the UK who are dissatisfied with their jobs, it is not surprising that most people think changing career is brave, a way of taking back control of one’s life - something they themselves would love to do!
If you are still unsure of what people will think, ask yourself – what do you think when you see someone change careers?
2. Everyone is different.
If someone tells you that you are ‘doing the wrong thing’ by changing careers, ask yourself: are that person’s fears and doubts based on what is wrong for you… or what would be wrong for them?
In a personal example, one member of my family (let’s call him Reg) was against every career move I have ever made (and god know I made enough of them!). He was against every one that is, except for the job that made me the most miserable.
In giving his advice, Reg acted with the best intentions, wanting to help me be happy. How could he get it so wrong?
Well, like most family or friends giving career advice, Reg’s view of what was a good career was ultimately based on would have been the right career for him. Which happened to be the exact opposite of what was right for me.
Reg isn’t me. Reg wants security, I want challenge. He prefers working with detailed systems and process, I thrive on helping people and creating big picture strategies. And so on.
So when Reg saw me moving into a respectable, secure, very detail oriented process-driven role, he was ecstatic (that would have been his dream role!). That role was my nightmare. But when Reg saw me drop it all to go down a strange new career path, he couldn’t understand – yet now it was my turn to be ecstatic (that strange new path was my dream career!)
Had I followed his ‘play it safe and don’t move’ advice, I would have lived Reg’s dream and hated it every step of the way.
The irony is, Reg is now retired, and shortly after he retired, he told me that above all, he wishes he’d been brave enough to move to a career he really loved – because he wasted 40 years doing something he hated.
40 wasted years. I’m very, very glad I didn’t take his advice on (lack of) career change…
3. What advice would you give yourself?
Write down the answers to the following questions (go on, actually write them!).
It is 10 years into the future. I am in the same career.
- Do I have a positive or negative view of myself?
- Am I still thinking what if?
- Am I proud of myself for continuing in this role for another 10 years?
Now look at your responses. If they are mainly negative, write down your answers to these questions, here and now:
- If I don’t take action to make a change, who will take action for me?
- If someone asks me why I never made the shift to a career I love, will “I thought others would think badly of me” be a good enough reason?
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?" (Mary Oliver)
Marianne Cantwell helps professionals reconnect with work they love and take action to get there.
Marianne offers readers of Career Shifters a free introductory telephone session. To arrange a call, email marianne@careerrevolution.co.uk . Marianne runs career move coaching organisation Career Revolution (www.careerrevolution.co.uk) and writes popular career blog Free Range Humans (www.freerangehumans.blogspot.com).
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!).
Find out more and pricing here
Follow us on