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If paying bills were enough, we'd all be in a state of bliss.
Nevertheless, what we "do" everyday is also important. To be
comfortable and secure was once upon a time a major accomplishment
for most people. In the old days, regardless of how ill fitted
the job was, people adapted and proudly struggled through the
day. Life was about surviving. The world has changed dramatically
since then, especially in terms of our work. Before recent times,
there was no expectation for work to be fun or fulfilling. You
took what you could get. Putting food on the table and a roof
over your head was the honorable thing to do. Now, we expect
a whole lot more. We want to love our work and get paid for it.
This possibility is very real for people willing to stretch for
it. In reality, however, nearly 90% of people have little passion
for their work.
Old ingrained ways take time to fade. The "secure job" value
system is alive and well, and still guiding career choices today.
In a way, the traditional approach to choosing a career is tempting.
It's the easy way out. You can settle for a job that's not perfect
and still be seen as doing the "right" thing. With work accepted
mainly as means to pay the bills, any secure job will do. This
mentality lets you off the hook from having to decide what to
do with your life. If your tired of singing the "Gotta do
what ya gotta do" blues, you might be ready to make a change.
The inconsistency between traditional work values and the freedoms
of today's work scene is energizing people to consider a more
fulfilling career. Why stay stuck in a job you don't enjoy when
you don't have to? Professionals are coming out of the woodwork--
doctors, lawyers, scientists, engineers, and business people--saying
they did not choose their field for the love of the work,
and are exploring new career paths. Many are taking a cut in
pay to get things moving in a new direction. The "survival" value
is loosing its grip. Expectations have shifted from having more
comfort and security to being alive in your work.
Naturally, changing career directions stirs up our fears,
and even some guilt. We are afraid to make the same mistake twice.
Let yourself off the hook. Chances are you probably did not have
much help with choosing your first career. Rather than look at
your initial choice as a mistake, you can view it as having done
your best with the knowledge and resources you had at the time.
One reason so many people find themselves in the wrong profession
is the method they used to make a career choice. There currently isn't
a very good one. For example, teenagers are pretty much left
to their own devices to figure out what they want to be when
they grow up. American high school graduates make their best
attempt at choosing a career without really knowing much about
the working world, let alone specific professions. The odds are
stacked against 17 year-olds when it comes to steering their
life in a direction that suits them. Statistically, nearly 9
out of 10 teenagers will turn out to be adults with jobs that
do not fully integrate their natural talents, values, sense of
purpose, and passions. Without a method to make holistic career
choices, teenagers will decide based on "teenage" values,
or let their parents make the choice for them. At 17, picking
"cool" careers that "look good" usually overshadows
the need for long-term satisfaction. Not realizing how quickly
the prestige wears off, even today, high school seniors are picking
careers that do not express their natural abilities.
Changing careers is serious business. Indeed, you probably
will be a little anxious about choosing your life direction.
On way to reduce the uncertainty is to do lots of research. Begin
with researching step number one, "You." Fantastic career
coaching tools are available now to help you understand your
inborn talents, natural abilities, and personality. The first
step is to know thyself. Once you feel confident in your innate
talents and know what matters to you, then you'll be ready to
start researching various career fields. This is where the rubber
meets the road. Rockport
Institute suggests doing 20 times more research than you feel
like doing. Use all your resources: the library, Internet, informational
interviews, job shadowing, etc. Become a detective, there is
no set way to learn about a career path. Few college bound grads
spend more than 15 minutes researching their career direction,
which usually takes place with the guidance counselor, filling
out college entrance applications. This is pin the tail on the
donkey, not a well thought out career choice. Why so much research?
For the same reason you date someone before you get engaged and
married. Hardly anyone chooses their lifelong mate without getting
to really know them first. Choosing a career without thorough
research is like marrying a blind date. I've met lawyers from
Harvard that despise the legal profession; they did little
investigation into the day-to-day life of an attorney before entering the field. Higher
education is in vain if gets you into a profession you don't
enjoy, or doesn't tap your strongest talents. Extensive research
gives you the opportunity to test-drive the career you are considering.
It's more fun to learn how good we are at something by experimenting.
If you are considering a switch to a new profession, it's
easier to do than you might think. Making a career change is
hard work, but it's not impossible. And, you may not necessarily
have to start all over again. Quite often, crossing the chasm
to a new career may not be as big a leap as it first appears.
The career change process is less daunting if you break it down
into smaller steps. As discuss above, step one is to know everything
there is to know about yourself. Do a thorough evaluation of
your inborn abilities, personality type, work functions, values,
purpose, workplace ecology, and passions. The second step is
to integrate all these elements together into several career
possibilities to be researched. These initial steps could take
between two and four months, be patient. Once
you've decided on your path, the last step is to launch it.
Usually when people think of changing careers, images of going
back to college start to haunt them. Although more schooling
may be useful, it may not be necessary. This of course will depend
on the direction you are taking. A good rule-of-thumb to know
is that most people only use about 5% of their formal education,
across most professions. A college diploma is a
membership card to enter a club of like-minded people. A diploma
is basically an "agreement" that you belong to specific club
of professionals. If you can find another way into the club,
then go for it. Once you're in, nobody really cares about what
educational route you took to get there. What people will notice
is your natural talent and passion for what you do. So, getting
into a new profession begins with convincing others you are one
of them. To do this, eat, sleep, and drink everything there is
to know about the new field, become a self-taught expert. Walk
the walk, and talk the talk. Your love for the new field will
guide you through this process with integrity. The key is to
get your foot in the door by building relationships with other
experts in the field. If done well, this will feel just like
making new friends, but with people who happen to love the same
things you do. If you're clever enough, you may find a mentor
or colleague who can use your help part-time and pay you for
your services. This way, you get to test yourself in the new
profession, make money while learning, and build expertise all
at the same time. This kind of education is priceless. In more
ways than one, you will get paid to change your career.
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