Author: Vicky Oliver / Source: Lifehack
The wake-up call often comes when you least expect it. Maybe you’re enjoying a relaxing get-together with your old college buddies when someone turns to you and says, “Wow, I never thought you’d become an investment banker. I always thought you were going to ride around the country by motorcycle and write about the experience.
” Before you know it, you find yourself remembering your old dreams — and comparing them to where you are now.Life rarely goes according to plan. Marriage, kids, and grandkids often come earlier than imagined — or later. Maybe you pursued one career path because you were considered the breadwinner, but now someone else in the family is the breadwinner. Or conversely, you landed a job, thinking you’d stay for six months, and now you’ve been there for sixteen years.
The good news: The average person will have five careers in her or his lifetime. It’s perfectly normal to change careers, even when it seems too late!
Steering your way through a career change is part calculation, part chance, and part leap-of-faith. As you set out, take the steps to help you navigate your career change:
Step 1: Be Mentally Prepared
Points 1-4 below can help you master the psychological aspects of a career change at any age.
1. Now or never is a fallacy.
For most professionals, there is no cut-off age for striking out in a new direction. People do it at all stages of their careers.
If you’ve ever dreamed of leaving a large company to hang your own shingle, you are not alone. Similarly, thousands of entrepreneurs and people working for one-man shops decide each year that they’d like to work for larger organizations.
You’ll find hordes of Baby Boomers looking for a redo alongside mobs of GenXers and Millennials — especially as the Boomers now remain in the workforce longer than their predecessors.
2. Your career is not a straight line from A to B. It has zigzags and curves.
You don’t have to have your career trajectory completely decided from the start. In fact, that’s an unrealistic expectation no matter how methodical you are.
People change. Industries merge, morph, and in some cases, disappear. Careers rarely follow the straight and narrow. Many careers can be compared to journeys — there are the adventurous patches, the boring patches, the downright scary patches, and the hills and valleys, too. The trick is to try to have a little fun while you’re charting out your various careers.
Don’t panic if you find you need to change your career. It may take some work, but you’re up for it.
3. Career changers are among good company.
Consider these well-known trailblazers whose careers took a radical turn:
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, studied computer science and electrical engineering at Princeton, went on to establish himself as a Wall Street prodigy, then quit to launch Amazon.com.
Sara Blakely, billionaire businesswoman, was a fax machine salesperson before creating her signature slimwear line, Spanx.
Jonah Peretti, co-founder of the media sites Huffington Post and BuzzFeed, initially taught computer science to middle schoolers for years.
4. Be ready to take on the naysayers.
Expect plenty of advice — usually of the discouraging kind — from friends and family when they learn that you’re exploring a career change. Those you know best are often the most vocal in trying to thwart your plans.
Be prepared to field a flurry of pessimistic conjecture and doomsday scenarios. Know, though, that when your loved ones question your judgment, they’re not necessarily doubting your talent, but trying to look out for your wellbeing. They may also be voicing their own inner turmoil over whether it’s time to plan their own change of careers.
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