Do you dream about switching careers? Do stories about what other people do interest you? Do you find yourself daydreaming about what it would be like to do their job or wishing it was your job?
I have switch careers and I have worked with people who believe that their life would be so much better if they could switch careers. Since the survey by The Conference Board, which I wrote about in an earlier posting, found that only half of all Americans say they are satisfied with their jobs, I would suspect that a lot of people out there are fantasizing about a new career or job. So what do you do?
My recommendation to my clients is to begin with recognizing what it is about your current career or job that is not working for you? Sometimes it is not the work itself but the circumstances around it. When it is the career we work to understand if there are any aspects of it that are salvageable and transferable. We also look to what shows up (patterns) in the stories they write about their life experiences for clues to what they really want to do. This is ultimately the hardest part. How many times have you heard “I don’t like what I am doing but don’t know what else I want to do”? With an understanding of what you want and a desire and plan to get there, you can successfully switch careers.
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