After 33 years with the same employee I want to change career, but I don't know where to begin.

ShiftDoctor answer

By Jessica McGregor Johnson on 17 January 2008 at 00:08

You have a lot of lovely pluses on your side right now, which are a real help for this transition you wish to make. Time and finances can be a big factor for some, but you have the luxury of both so relax and see this as a personal project for your future. And yes, start now!

Having been with the same employer, albeit in various positions, it can be difficult to see yourself in other situations using the skills you have acquired and I am not surprised that you have little joy scanning the job websites. We can only become enthused about what's on offer once we have become excited about what we are looking for. And what fuels excitement? Passion and purpose are our core motivators. So Instead of trying to match your current skills to another job, reconnect with your interests - your passion and purpose - and go from there.

Passions

Our passions are the things that make our heart beat that bit faster. Things that we feel strongly about, that we enjoy doing. Re-engaging with our passions is an important part of finding a career or vocation that will fulfil us on many levels. One thing you can do is to look back through your life experience and see what fires you, what has caught your attention in the past.

Write out some immediate responses to the following.

• Go back into your life experience, even into your childhood, and recall and articulate in detail what accomplishments or activities you remember with the greatest satisfaction and enthusiasm - times when you have experienced great joy. Write out as many as come to mind

• What have you done in your life that has made you feel good about yourself and fulfilled?

• Recall those activities during which the time just flew by, that brought you closer to yourself, when you felt at home with everything and the work seemed to just happen on its own volition.

• How or for what would you like to be remembered?

• Recall any 'daydreams' (especially recurring ones) you have experienced throughout your life. What have you imagined yourself doing? How have you pictured yourself?

Some other questions you can answer are:

• Five talents I have are...

• Five things I love doing are...

• Five things people tell me that I'm good at are...(whether I agree with them or not?)

• Five things I'd love to try doing are...

• What kind of environment do I love to be in?

• What kind of people do I love to be around and have around me?

• What cause excites me, turns me on, gets me fired up?

• What am I really good at? (Not what would I like to be good at!)

• What matters to me?

• If money isn't an issue, how would I live my life?

• If I did know what my big dream was, what would it be?

• If I had to guess my big dream, or even make it up, what would I guess or make up?

• If I knew that I was guaranteed success, what would I choose as my big dream?

Keep coming back to what you have written to the questions above and add to them when you get further inspirations. These are just a starting point and there are other factors in finding what fulfils you. Your values are also very important too. But from your answers to these questions you will able to start to see what areas in life you feel strongly about, the things that grab your attention. Some of your answers may surprise you, they may be things you haven't thought about for a long while, others may seem obvious. It is all these things that can begin to give you some clues as to a new beginning.

Purpose

Our Purpose is the ‘Why" we do something. The motivator behind all our actions. When we are doing something, whether it be a job or a hobby, if it fulfils our purpose it fulfils us. Have a look at the answers you gave to the previous exercise and ask yourself 'for all those things I enjoyed doing what purpose did they serve?'. Now this purpose isn't just a reason for doing it, but rather a personal experience and outcome, which has a greater reach.

To give an example

Someone may look at all they have done in their life and see that the times they were most fulfilled were the times they were being an inspiration to people or it could be that they were passing on knowledge in some way. This could be through playing or coaching sport, or spending time with their children, or being a trainer in a large corporation. Follow this through and this person's purpose could read something like "To be an example and inspire others to perform at their best".

Now this example is simplistic at best but it gives you an idea of how you can begin to unpack who you are and what your personal purpose might be. Add that to your passions and some signposts should start to begin to form, giving you a greater idea of direction that you can look in for your next step. Once you have identified what would be an inspirational arena for you to work in then your skills come into play. Which can I use in this arena, what ones are missing and how can I acquire them?

Identifying a new career is a process, hence the idea of approaching this as a project. These ideas are just some starting pointers for you. Your project of finding your next career is a set of steps that gradually build up a new picture, one into which you will fit, with all the enthusiasm that you have felt missing from your life recently. By adding passion and purpose back into your life you can look forward to moving into a new era for you, doing something that fulfils you and ticks all the boxes.

©2008JessicaMcGregorJohnson

Jessica offers a free introductory session to discuss how she can help you identify and make the move you want; if you would like to arrange a time for her to call you please email her at jessica@jessicamcgregorjohnson.com or call +34 958 639 593. For more information visit http://www.jessicamcgregorjohnson.com/

She lives in southern Spain and works internationally as a Life Coach enabling people to follow their dream and gain fulfilment in every area of life. She has worked with many career shifters and particularly enjoys using her own life experience, including her time in the corporate world, to support those making whatever move they choose.