5 steps to find a fulfilling new career

1. Work out what fulfilling means to you.

   What are your values, the things that are most important to you and that you stand by? If you aren’t sure, it can help to think about times in your life you’ve felt most fulfilled and authentically you, and what values were being honoured at the time? Who do you admire and, on the flip side, what kind of people irritate you - and which of your values might they be transgressing? What are the causes that you care about? What gives you energy? One helpful question you might ask yourself is: “at the end of my life looking backwards, what would most matter? What would make me proud to have contributed or accomplished?”

2. Step outside your “reality bubble”.

   Through no fault of our own, we all exist in a limited bubble – the people and organisations we know, the places we go, the careers we are aware of. To start seeing new possibilities, you need to get out of that bubble: volunteer in spaces that matter to you, do short courses to build on the skills and knowledge you have and enjoy, go to events where you’re likely to be around your ‘tribe’, people who care about the same things as you. If you have no idea yet what matters to you, this step is especially important and is best approached with pure open-minded curiosity.

3. Chat with as many of those people as you can about their work

   Whose jobs are you curious about? Who might be working in organisations and industries that sound exciting, or even just people who seem to really love and get meaning from what they do? Don’t get too bogged down with talking to the “right” people. You’ll get value from every conversation you have: allow yourself the opportunity to be delightfully surprised by what you find out.

4. Test drive your ideas.

   Once you have a handful of possibilities that seem interesting and feel like they have potential, try them out so you can get a sense of the reality and find out whether they’re going to work for you. How can you “get your hands dirty” with minimal risk? Can you do work shadowing or volunteering? Can you have a go at it in a small way? If you aren’t sure, then ask the contacts you’ve made in this area: “How might someone like me start experiencing this work for themselves?”

5. Build up your career capital.

   When you know the fulfilling career or careers that you want to move into, start building your bank of evidence for your interest and capacity to do the job. Take on small projects, offer your skills for free or low cost, help out a contact in the area, anything that will help you construct an “unofficial CV/resume” that you can talk about to potential employers or clients.

If you’d like help with any of this, or know someone who might benefit, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Have you been fantasising about quitting your job?

Should you just do it TODAY? 

Maybe you’re frustrated by a difficult boss, feeling trapped in work that is boring or stressful or even BOTH, panicking that your life is slipping away from you and feeling like you can’t do it for one day longer.The thing is, tempting though it can be to storm out the door in a dramatic flourish, it’s usually not the best idea.

Beyond all the obvious stuff about burnt bridges and references, leaving with nothing else lined up can create a real headache for yourself and – perhaps counter-intuitively – potentially delay your career change even further.

It’s easy, when you’re in the thick of it, to imagine if you could just leave the current job, you’d have so much energy, time and headspace to focus on your shift.

In fact, what I have seen many times with clients I’ve worked with over the years, those who give into temptation end up with a whole load of new problems they hadn’t anticipated. These can include:

Money worries: Regardless of how much you’ve saved up to tide you over for a situation like this, the reality of having zero pay checks coming into your account each month can create a huge amount of pressure. Career change takes time and requires an open and curious mindset, which is hard when you feel that kind of urgency, however imminent the need to start making money is.

Lack of routine: When you’re super busy, the promise of an empty diary looks really appealing, but  - in reality - suddenly finding yourself with no structure and only yourself to be accountable to can make it even harder to get into action. Leaving the social connections behind from your existing role can also put you in quite a lonely and isolated place, which can be a challenge to energy levels, especially if you’re an extrovert.

Loss of identity and confidence: So often, I see previously self-assured and clearly talented, capable people suffer a huge blow to their self-esteem when removed from the professional identity and workplace life they’re become used to. So much of our sense of self-worth, for better or worse, is tied up in our jobs, and a lack of direction can create feelings of shame and worthlessness.

Each of these can be barriers to career change, whether from the ability to be open and curious, or the lack of momentum and drive, to the energy sap of struggling with your inner gremlins.I’m not saying don’t do it – for some situations, you just need to get the hell out.

Pre-empting some of this stuff means you can go into it with your eyes open and plan how you’ll overcome the obstacles, whether that’s working out a daily routine or getting some external support in place to help you maintain a positive mindset.If you’re thinking of quitting your job today and want a sounding board before you jump ship, just get in touch. I’m happy to chat and help you weigh up the pros and cons.