German teacher looking for new career to suit personality and needs

ShiftDoctor answer

By Lisa Mitchell on 26 March 2007 at 13:45

It sounds as though you are about to enter an exciting new phase in your life with your youngest child leaving home. I am presuming that this opens up some potential avenues for you financially now that you only have yourself to support.

It also sounds like you have some clues about the kind of area you would like to work in. You say that you enjoy working with small groups of people and that you ‘would like to help/support/motivate people to make changes in their lives'. This is pretty clear remit so congratulations on having taken the first step to finding that career!

What I suggest is that you really start being curious about what this new career might be like. If you were a detective trying to find an answer to this riddle where would you look? All too often, when we are trying to find the answer to something significant like a new career it just seems too big or too frightening to really make progress with. Changing your perspective on the situation can make all the difference. So, what if this was a fantastic adventure that you were embarking on? Or that you were an adventurer looking for gold? What's the perspective that you can take that will make you feel positive and motivated to find the answer to this question? Spend some time working out what motivates you around this. The perspective and frame of mind that you approach this with will do more to aid your success than any of the actions.

Then start to really think about the impact you want to make in the world. What do you really want your life to have been about? You say you want to help people make changes in their lives - for the purpose of what? What is it that you really want to do? What pains you when you look around the world? What would you really like to change? Defining your purpose and impact really helps you to be clear when you then look at more specific possibilities.

Then really start to look for things you are interested in. Start to look through job ads - what's interesting? Who do you know who does something that helps motivate and create change for people? Can you speak to them and find out what they do? What associations/public bodies are there where you could find out more? For example, the International Coaching Federation is a great place to start if you want to find out more about coaching. What websites can help you? What have you always been interested in but have never allowed yourself to pursue? Once you start to take even small actions, you will be amazed what other avenues open up to you. Speaking to one person could open up another 10 leads for you to go and investigate. All you have to do is be curious, open and put one foot out there. Good luck in your search.