Opening the floodgates!

By Sab

I was lucky to talk to Selina from the CareerShifters team about what may be holding me back from envisioning and going after my dream 'work', and a limiting factor we came across was the idea that 'not many people really enjoy their work'. I think i still have some beliefs about paid work = being stuck in a boring workplace with an uninspiring boss. 

So to remedy this nasty belief Selina suggested I find, say, 10 people who really enjoy their work, to prove to myself that there are many people out there who have a great time at work (and therefore if they can, surely i can too) 

I sat down and thought, oh heck, it's going to take me ages to even think of five people i know, let alone TEN 

and i ended up, within the space of about 15min, with a list of 38 people, about 20 i really knew, 10 who were friend of a friend, and the rest were 'famous' to some degree (eg Rick Stein).

i was on a roll. my head was actively searching for more people to add to my list, and things were appearing - some bloke on Working Lunch who had recently started a great job teaching woodwork to people with learning difficulties at the age of 60 (although he was so content he looked 50, easily). An article in a free paper about a young woman whose career is as an 'eco warrior' (earning money through workshops and writing columns). I instinctively looked through my old contacts business cards file and picked one out - a woman i'd met a couple years ago at a networking event - & went to her website. Her business is to provide info & connections for people who want to holiday / do activities by themselves. anyhow, she's having a great time - spent half the year in India, goes to retreats to review them... wonderful. And she had an interview on her site with a young entrepreneur who runs a couple of businesses (holidays and events) and he's always travelling, works with friends, and has time for himself. Sounds perfect!

I dare anyone to try this exercise - listing people who really enjoy what they do. It's incredibly inspiring and the search is very very addictive. I'm going to aim to find at least five new people every day to add to my list for the rest of the week. That old belief of 'work = drudgery' is getting beaten at an unbelievably fast rate!!!

Sab xxx

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What people are saying about Careershifters

“As of yesterday, I officially have a new career and start my new and exciting role next week! So a massive THANK YOU to all of you at Careershifters for your support. You really do deserve every success in what you're doing.”

Liz

"Careershifters helped me realise that there were many small steps I could take towards improving my job satisfaction. Gaining greater focus has given me a renewed enthusiasm for my work, giving me the confidence to negotiate a one year sabbatical."



Cath Rooney

"For 17 years I worked in the travel industry. In the period of unemployment and after attending the Careershifters workshop I retrained and am now employed as a trainer and coach. I'd recommend the workshop to anyone who may not know what they want to do."

Paul Kensett

“After attending a Careershifters workshop I had the energy and drive to start researching how to get into teaching. I applied for a course, had an interview, got a place and left my old job in less than a week. It was so easy when I finally decided to go for it.”

Nikki

"The Careershifters workshop started me on the path to changing from the Practice Manager of a GP Practice to Community Engagement work that meets the needs I identified at the workshop."

Diane Cassidy

“Thanks to Careershifters I'm shifting my career! Have been thinking for a while about the direction I'm going in and after looking at your website and reading some of the advice I realised that I've got to go for it.”

Justine

"The Careershifters workshop helped me realise that it’s never too late to change your career, that these advances take time and, I am confident that if I stick with my ‘plan’ I won’t make another wrong career move."

Claire Coveney

"I had a career in sales and now I run my own sales training company.  The Careershifters workshop gave me the motivation to get on and do things, as well as some good direction with regards to the sort of activities I needed to put in place."

Matt Hayden

"This website has been a lifesaver for me over the past year!"

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