Part of the series Breaking Through Career Inertia
My answer was simple – 100% commitment. It takes committing to taking one action each and every day towards what you want.
Most people don’t make change until they’re desperately unhappy, or until some form of a crisis hits them. It’s universal - people are highly resistant to change, and they fear that the devil they know is better than the one they don’t.
That was me in my corporate career 12 years ago – I just would not take the necessary action until a brutal layoff in the days following 9/11 pushed me to my knees. In order to break through your status quo of career pain, you have to take action, and a bold kind of action that’s very different from what you’ve been doing all these years.
I’ve seen that there is a right way to look at your career – a perspective that opens the doors for growth, change, possibility and success – and a definite wrong way to think about it. The wrong way keeps you locked in a cycle of unhappiness, insecurity, fear, and pain.
Below are the 7 hallmarks of the wrong way to view your career and professional life:
1. “I’m stuck here.”
I’ve heard this phrase thousands of times from working people who believe they are stuck with no way out of their jobs or careers, mostly around money or “security” they think their job offers (we all know that NO job offers you security today – that’s a myth). I know this is the wrong way to view your career, because I’ve personally witnessed thousands of other cases where people decide “Heck, I can do it!” about taking a vital new direction, despite what the outer circumstances present. They muster faith and trust that if they take action – and if they commit to doing something 15 minutes every day towards career change or growth – that new opportunities will present themselves and they can build a career they love. These folks are right. You’re not stuck anywhere (despite how firmly you stick to that excuse).
2. “It’s too late to change.”
I had this same thought myself throughout my corporate career, until I reinvented myself and realized that nothing is wasted. Whatever you’ve done, learned and experienced, you can apply all of these skills and abilities in the next, better direction, to great success. It’s not too late. An example of this is when I earned a Masters degree in marriage and family therapy in my 40’s and become a practicing therapist. After three years of working with depression, rape, incest, pedophilia, drug addiction and more, and I said, “That’s enough. This is not for me.” But I felt terrible that I’d “wasted” so much time and money in this career. Now I see, however, that every skill I learned as a therapist has great use and applicability in my current work as a coach, trainer and speaker, and even as a writer and interviewer. Nothing is ever wasted, and it’s not too late to change.
3. “I really blew it (I’m a loser).”
Another wrong way to look at your career trajectory is to beat yourself up for taking a turn that didn’t work out. OK, so you attempted to launch your own practice and didn’t like it, or you failed at your new partnership. Or you took what seemed to be an exciting job and immediately hated it because of the toxic environment. So? We all make mistakes, and I can tell you (after interviewing so many amazingly successful leaders, celebrities and innovators), it’s our mistakes that teach us the most and can catapult us quickly to the next level. You’re not a loser unless you think you are.
4. “There are no opportunities out there for me.”
Yes there are. Even in these very tough times, I’ve seen people land amazing new jobs, create positions that didn’t exist before, launch new ventures that rock, make new connections that later opened huge doors for them. There are vast new opportunities out there. The thing that these people understand is that YOU have to create your luck and opportunities. It won't just fall in your lap. How do you make new opportunities for yourself? Figure out what you want and what you’ll give up anything for, research it thoroughly, talk to everyone you know about what you want, pursue taking one step each day towards the direction you want. If you want a new career, you don’t have to bet the farm and risk everything to do it. You can make subtle but very important shifts right now that pave the way for more happiness, success and reward.
5. “I don’t need to network .”
Sorry, you can’t build a great career alone and in a vacuum. You need others – to support you, show you where you’re off course, advocate for you, uplift you when you’re down. So many corporate employees who’ve been in jobs for years find they have no contacts outside their current employer, and that’s a costly mistake. You need to build a network of supporters and ambassadors outside your current organization who can help. There are many ways to build this kind of network, but you’ve got to overcome your reluctance to engage with new people, and start. Introverts have written me to say, “I find this advice hard. What can introverts do instead?” Introverts and extroverts alike have to do this work. Start connecting with people, and offer your help first – give endorsements on
6. “I can’t risk losing the money I make now.”
Look, we all need money to survive and thrive. And we all want to pay our bills, live well, support our families, have great adventures, try new experiences, enjoy our lives – all of which money helps us do. But to what degree have you let money shut down your future? How many decisions do you make each day that feed into your money fears? Change doesn’t need to equate poverty. It’s such a myth today – that if you pursue work you love you’ll be in the poorhouse. There are ways to generate much more than you are earning today, but not if you adhere to the old corporate mentality that you’re only as valuable as your last salary. There’s a right way and wrong way to pursue career change. The wrong way may very well end you in the poorhouse – the right way won’t. The right way requires doing the legwork necessary to research, plan and take your next step in an informed, educated and well-supported way so that you don’t have any surprises that will ruin your chances for success.
7. “I’ll be doing this forever.”
Finally, it’s wrong to think that whatever you’re doing now, or whatever step you take, you’ll be stuck with forever. The concept of a linear career – where you stay in the same function and industry for 30 years -- is outdated. People are changing careers and directions much more rapidly and prevalently than ever before. I’ve had five careers and this current role is the one I adore, but I’m sure at some point, my focus will change again too. Look at where you are today as a stepping stone to what you really want. How can you use where you are and what you’re learning now to bridge to a more exciting, fulfilling and happy work life?
For a happier, more successful career, visit kathycaprino.com and The Amazing Career Project.
