Career change and personal dreams touch everyone it seems. Even in Hollywood. I just watched the latest episode of Parenthood and thought it was truly inspirational.
If you’re an avid viewer you know that Amber is in her junior year of high school and is poised to either head off to college after she graduates or not. Sarah is Amber’s mother. And, Sarah is doing her best to keep Amber far away from the mistakes she made earlier in life. Sarah got married young, didn’t go to college, and now works as a bartender. See why Sarah might be concerned?
Without getting too terribly much further into the show, Amber of course wants little to do with college right now. Education is not at the top of her list. Long story short: Sarah didn’t really think about making her own career change until her own daughter suggested it and brought her the course catalog from Berkeley.
After that rather lengthy lead in, here is the jist of my post.
Are you one of those people who have simply headed off to a job everyday just because it hasn’t dawned on you that you can actually make a change?
It might be time to ask yourself:
- What is really important to you?
- What is holding you back?
- What has to happen to get you to make a move?
- What if failure was not an issue?
- What if fear were not a factor in making change?
- What kind of person would you need to be to make that happen?
And, finally, do you need help achieving your dream? If this is something that is really important to you, ask for help.
Tell yourself that work doesn’t have to be something that you dread. You don’t have to buy into the myth that work must be drudgery. It is actually true that you can make a living and you don’t have to sacrifice your happiness to do it.
No one is saying it will be easy. Obviously it has to be important to you. If it is, identify a viable career and market, research your options, and make plans. Take small steps. Just keep moving forward – you can achieve your goals.
Making a career change can be an intimidating process. Patricia Erickson, a bona fide career changer if ever there was one covers the ins and outs of career change at length in her new book entitled Career Management Guide: A Practical Approach To Career Change In Any Economy.
Patricia is a seasoned career management expert and certified professional resume writer with over twelve years of executive recruiting and coaching experience. She works with career changers and job seekers to design strategies that transform careers. Patricia has been instrumental in navigating clients toward their true career aspirations as well as finding purpose and personal fulfillment.