Over the last couple of weeks, discussions mostly involved the analysis of finally admitting that you’re not happy, determining it’s time to move on from what you’re doing and pondering your initial thoughts on what direction your career should take.
Today, let’s talk about a much more difficult thing — actually starting the process.
In a perfect scenario, you’d be able to walk into the boardroom or office of the owner or manager of where you work and quit with no notice. The next day, you’d wake up ready for your new challenges and seamlessly transition into the changed financial and personal aspects of your life. Unfortunately, that’s not the way the world works because that’s not the way life happens.
The good news is a major professional transition will be much easier if you find a support team that includes people who have also decided to reroute their lives. If a team is not readily available to you, a career coach with a proven history of guiding others through intense changes is equally beneficial. If possible, having both is the best option.
Mentors Give emotional Help
Anxiety and doubt are entirely normal emotions to have during any major change involving a life decision. If you aren’t somewhat anxious about embarking on a new career path, you haven't thought about it enough. One thing mentors can offer you is the strength of emotional intelligence because they’ve ridden the wave of feelings that come with change. They know what it’s like to embark on something new and the uncertainty that comes with it. They've also experienced the flux within a career transition and the impact of financial changes on their lifestyle. Mentors understand the emotional ebbs and flows that come with radically altering their lives.
Unless you’re doing something super-specialized, like moving from the world of high finance on Wall Street to becoming an alpaca farmer in New Zealand, finding a mentor isn’t as difficult as you think. Professional organizations and associations are always available for whatever your new endeavor is. Before starting, you should get to know the people involved in organizations offering services closest to your new goals. You’ll most likely click with someone who is looking to share their wisdom.
If that doesn’t happen, search social media or visit a local small business development center. Your local chamber of commerce is a great place to start. You can contact other independent organizations as well. The Service Corps of Retired Engineers is another association of people more than willing to help.
coaches Use A Logical Approach
The mentor-mentee relationship is a vital piece of many people’s success. Since I make my living as a professional mentor and career coach, I think everyone should engage the services of one. I’ve helped many people make positive turnarounds in their lives, and I know firsthand how people can go even further than their dreams with proper guidance.
Where a mentor has a lot of inside experience and can speak to the personal emotional nature of following one’s calling, a career coach can help put together a plan covering the things you may not have thought about. For instance, in your new life, have you carved out personal time for exercise or leisure? Too many people barrel into things at full speed and get quickly burnt out. That’s the kind of thing a career coach can you help identify before you begin.
Career coaches also help to logically solve the little problems that sometimes blow up into big issues in their clients’ heads. I specialize in problem-solving these kinds of difficulties, but I’m also a mentor, so with me, you get the best of both worlds—emotional support and a logical plan. If you’re the one who brings the kids to school in the morning, but your new professional life won’t allow it, anxiety happens if a solution doesn’t spring to mind immediately. I can sit with you and logically work out a predicament like this before it consumes too much of your time and energy and causes you emotional distress.
There’s that old saying about “It takes a village” … well, when it comes to your new professional way of life, the best thing you can do is ask for help from the start. One of the things we sometimes forget in a jaded, cynical world is that at their core, people are decent and like to help others.
As for your newly chosen path, odds are, what you’re doing is not unique to the world. Even if your plan starts from a different angle on an old approach, other people have embarked on something similar, blazing new trails in the path you’d like to follow. As your mentor and career coach, I can help you develop an individualized plan for how to bypass the others on that crowded path and get to what you want with the least amount of resistance. I will help you manage obstacles with a clear plan of action, and I’d be delighted to help you grow into the new profession and life you now want to live.