A Christmas career shift epiphany

By Sab

 

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the possibilities of the new year :) I get very excited by the prospect of a clear year ahead to fill with new experiences and good times.

Shortly after writing my previous blog I caught the flu :( and was out for the count for two weeks, then christmas rolled along. So I've been lucky to have some time on my hands (when not wrapping presents) to think calmly about my future career. I have to admit it felt wonderful to have a blank, not-functional mind for a week with the flu. i didn't worry about anything, all the muddled worries and thoughts that can come with a career shift didn't affect me.

Being unable to do anything for over a week, my subconcious started to create yearnings for what i wanted to do. "if only i was well again i could go dancing! i could write that play! i could go to the xmas karaoke event!" I wrote them down on a pad by my bed, and found it illuminating.

I'm not suggesting everyone go try to catch an illness so they can take time out to find their calling but maybe setting aside time, in an empty room with no distractions, even for a couple of hours, til you are bored out of your brain, could throw up some deep desires within you.When you are kept from doing the things you love, the desire for them becomes stronger.

i'm not sure where to go next with my deep desires but at least i have something to work with - music + dancing, fiction writing, being creative with like-minded people, being in the sunshine, and fantastical books + movies

the professional creative world seems a little daunting right now but i feel like (in my head) things are falling into place, + that i've found an area i can commit to (even though i'm not 100% sure the exact role).

so i hope this might give you hope that if you think you haven't a clue where you want to go, what career you really want to do, something will click at some point. probably unexpectedly. i think i've always known that i've enjoyed these things, and been creative, but have been too scared to make it the focus for my career quest, and didn't realise til recently how much these things meant to me. maybe you have things you love too that you don't even consider doing for work, but you don't know til you try. could be the start of something wonderful :) 

happy happy happy life-changing new year everyone! will blog in Jan

Sab xx

 

 

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By markmccluretoday

Qualifier: Do Your Own Research - Your Mileage May Vary *YMMV)...

Warning! - This is a long post ;-)

Tom's comment about having to pay the bills reminds me how easy it was to make a career change 22 years ago - in my mid 20s.

I found what I wanted to do (get paid more for teaching plus travel) and just did it. No family/children, no mortgage, no problem.

20 years later and mid-career switch is a different undertaking because not only are there more bills to pay, but a family to provide for too.

That doesn't make change impossible just more difficult (again YMMV).

What I've noticed this time round is being drawn to create my own slash (/) career path themed around writing / coaching / teaching.

These are skills and roles I've experienced to varying degrees over the previous 2 decades - the 'trick' this time round is to assemble them in a format that pays the bills and satisfies me.

What Sab describes makes me smile because that inner voice I listen to more often these days. It's always been there.

And, as Selina's boyfriend is noticing, I too find a greater joy in many of life's good things, some being free.

Others I spend money on - but within a budget. ( I think that's implied from Selina's tale.)

Taken together (an inner calm and a zest for life), these can be BIG psychological enablers on a career search.

For sure, attempting one with the opposite approach would not be much fun.

Of course, in the bigger context of a UK economic system now in a major recessionary cycle (Japan is too) which might last for many months, there are no guarantees how long a career change might take.

I place Tom's words in that pragmatic context. In the meantime you might find that staying with the day job, while not ideal, helps pay for food and shelter.

You might have to do this for a long time - while still working the 2 'creative arts' described by Sab and Selina.

For some, this will end up with career change decisions being made and executed.

Others will find sufficient strength and joy in pursuing outside 'hobby' or spare-time activities sourced through these 'arts'. The 'job' pays for these.

I would say to explore what you are drawn to... but DYOR and YMMV! There are no guarantees.

By Selina Barker

Hey Tom, who do you think here doesn't have to pay bills? I certainly do. But you've demonstrated a classic reaction of a lot of people: that it's impossible to earn enough money to pay the bills and enjoy the work you do to earn that money.

I used to get people asking if I had a trust fund when they found out that I earnt a living doing everything from selling ice creams at festivals, to running Spanish workshops, to doing events in Greece and San Francisco.

But I didn't have a trust fund (if only!), however it is true that I often didn't have enough money to buy food either so I'm not going to pretend to you that in insisting on following a career path that I enjoy I haven't found myself struggling to pay my bills sometimes, but I always have done and I'm proof that it's possible.

I can't and don't want to live like that anymore though and with the desire for a secure income so that I can stay healthy, reduce my stress and afford a mortgage I'm discovering that 'career' and 'earning a living' aren't always one and the same.

I earn a living now as a recruitment consultant, and although I do get to help people with their careers, it's not what I would choose to do if I had 1 year of life left to live. Being a recruitment consultant is not, in my mind, my career, but I love it for the opportunity it gives me to fund adventures, a healthy lifestyle and a mortgage for my first home.

I guess my point here is that it takes time, years often, to first find what activities really make you come alive and then find a way to earn a realistic living doing that. Careershifting is a set of stages. I have discovered many passions that I now fill my life with and I earn a living doing something that is at least getting closer to the activities I enjoy and most importantly pays the bills. My next step is to find a way of earning a living doing the things that I love.

Good luck to you Tom. Don't use the excuse of having to pay bills to put you off finding a way of earning a living that you really enjoy. There are people out there doing it right now, listen to them, not to the people who say it's impossible.

x S


By Sab

Hey, i'm just exploring career options, why so glum? x

By Tom Scott

Sound solid career advice there. Good luck. I hope you never actually have to pay the bills.

By AnnaSophia

Many thanks for your great blog entry. It helps to know that I am not alone in my dilemma about changing careers. I've been struck with the norovirus and have been off work since Monday. My tendency is to wallow in self pity and cry out for my mummy -- but now I took the time to think about my career prospects. Reading your blog reinforced me to take this time out to think, to brainstorm and to get to know myself a little bit better. It's going to be a rollercoaster ride, I know, but I'm feeling positive knowing that at least I will try, I will research and then I can make an informed decision, rather than just toying the idea. I look forward to reading more blog entries!

By Selina Barker

Ooh you should get the 'Thrift Book' by India Knight. Absolutely brilliant - I got it for Christmas and it has all sorts of creative ideas for those of us who like to have a bit of fun with home-styled clothes...and the rest x S

By Sab

Yep, even when you don’t know what to do as far as your career goes, it is really important to set things up and have things to look forward to so you have more than just career worries invading your every waking hour! Great that your boyfriend is feeling enthusiastic. When you’re in a happy state, it’s more likely you’ll hit on good ideas.

It’s only been a week or so after Christmas but I’ve reconnected with something I love - illustrated fantastical books. Roald Dahl, Alice in Wonderland etc. And funnily enough, whilst rediscovering the joy I get from them, other pleasures I thought I’d lost have come back. I’ve been ‘off’ clothes shopping for a while (in fact, 2 years. Weird, I know!), totally uninspired. But this past week I’ve found gorgeous bags + dresses (to admire, not buy! Credit crunch!) and am inspired again to experiment with my style (I used to dress quirkily before I joined the 9-5).

I know it might not sound like much, but these little things - feeling drawn to things instinctively + feeling inspired by them - well I feel like I’m getting back to the ’true’ me again. After feeling lost + confused for a while, things are starting to feel sure again, like I know who I am. Gush gush.

So I really hope (+ am sure) your boyfriend gets some happy insights too during his six weeks. This is all such a bizarre process! Glad to be going through it though.

xSabx


By Selina Barker

Sab, that really highlights one of the first key steps I feel everyone should take when making a shift in career: Stop thinking about your career altogether and go out and enjoy yourself. My boyfriend is going through a careershift dilemma at the moment. I've given him all sorts of articles, exercises, books and advice in an attempt to help him work out what he wants to do, but it didn't seem to be helping. He's been getting himself into more and more of a state about it. So on new years eve I said to him, right, that's it, no more thinking about career for 6 weeks - it's time for you to enjoy yourself. For the next 6 weeks I want you to TREAT YOURSELF. Make that your mission. Write a list of all the things you want to do, experience, treat yourself to and then over the next few days schedule them all into your diary. It took him an effort at first, there was a lot of 'but I don't KNOW what I want to do...' so we started small with a book he wanted to buy, then a gig he wanted to go to. Next thing he's planning a short holiday in the sun, cooking a meal for his Nan and a poker night with his boys. I've never seen such a change in a person. LITERALLY it was overnight. He's now bouncing around the place all full of excitement about the month ahead. And I know from my own experience and the experience of others, like you Sab, that it's when your doing the things that inspire you and make you come alive that you get those lightbulb moments and suddenly, out of the blue, when you weren't even thinking about career, you suddenly realise what it is you want to do. I can't wait to hear Sab, what grows out of doing these things you love x S

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