We’re creatures of habit, aren’t we? Unlike other animals who just take each day as it comes and then ‘live for the moment’, we crave the assumed safety of feeling in control of our destinies and we do that by sticking with what we know.
That’s a key reason why people don’t ‘carpe diem’ and make a change to their careers when they are clearly less than happy with the one that they’ve got. We use a whole heap of excuses such as:
- I’ve got bills to pay
- I’m too old
- This is what I know
- I’d love to, but …
… and they go on. When it comes down to it the idea is fine while it is only an idea. Putting the wheels in motion seems too big a step and the status quo remains.
However safety is not necessarily in ‘sticking with what you know’. Thousands of people in jobs which were ‘for life’ are now being booted out, as countless private and public organisations attempt to slash millions off their budgets. Not wishing to set myself up as a pundit of doom, I don’t think we’re anywhere near the end of this, either. I think far more like it is that this is still the opening phase.
Sometimes we need to be pushed to make us jump – this could be just such an occasion. Given that you are unhappy in your existing career, you’d love to do something else, and like I said, sitting on the fence only means that you risk being impaled, why not ‘go for it’?
I could write reams about the philosophy of making a career change or giving you dozens of tips for implementing one but I’m just going to stick with a single simple notion which I think is at the heart of it.
Life is short and, although you can’t take ‘happiness’ to the bank or use it to pay bills with, it does have a tangible value. Happiness makes life bearable, reduces stress, boosts your life expectancy, and raises your personal attractiveness meaning more people want to interact with you and this, in turn, lifts your opportunity level. That’s a win-win-win … win situation so don’t pooh-pooh it.
What I’m saying is don’t just think of the financial security your current job offers, or the drop in salary a new career might mean. If your current job is making you ill with stress (for example), sooner or later (and probably ‘sooner’), you’ll have to stop doing it anyway. Far better from all points of view is to anticipate the situation.
And yes, if you’re asking, I made the change. Disability forced the issue for me, admittedly, but I’ve dropped a career running an employment business to become a writer about employment issues. You’ll have to tell me how successful I am!
Good luck with your own career change. Have the confidence to take command and go with where both your heart and your head lead you.
Related posts:
- Are you thinking of changing career? If you are thinking of changing career then, before you...
- A career in finance “I’d like to live as a poor man with lots...
- A career in the Emergency Services “Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We...
- A career in engineering “Therefore, O students, study mathematics and do not build without...
- A career in teaching “Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions”...
