Retiring? Hate your job? Thinking of Changing Careers?

Career change can be very scary which is why people often talk about it and never do anything about it. Be realistic about it. Change seldom happens overnight. If you are planning to build a house, you don’t order the building materials and start building right away. You do find a site, do research, draw up plans, compare prices of materials, all of which could take years. Changing careers calls for being methodical and strategic. You can do it if you have support along the way, a good plan, and patience.

Here are a couple tips once you know what you want to do:

1: Visualize your job in concrete terms

If you can visualize and articulate the terms of what you are looking for, it’s easier to find people who can help you.  Having an “elevator pitch” that can tell others succinctly what you are about will help.

2: Seek relevant work experience

Chances are you would bring a lot of knowledge and experience to your chosen field but you may lack direct experience. Find it! Volunteer or find a position that will help you fill in the gaps. It might be a low paid job but one that leads where you want to go.

3: Find a Mentor – Support Network

Chances are good that you will find someone who has jumped through the hoops and is willing to help you, especially if you offer them something in return. If they don’t want anything in return, you can return the favour by mentoring someone junior. What goes around, comes around. Know that you will need a support network. Find those who will support and encourage you. Consider whether your support network might include a career coach who has had the experience of guiding people through changes.

4: Supress your fears and don’t listen to the nay-sayers

Change is difficult enough without having to listen to hecklers, including your own.  You have to stay focused on your plans. Don’t let your fears or other’s fears derail your goal or you will be like all the other people who talk about changing careers and never do.

The Best Resolution is to never make them again

A new year represents a new beginning, which is why most people tend to make resolutions at this time of the year. It’s as good a time as any to figure out what you deeply desire for yourself.

But are you aware how long the average resolution lasts? 72 hours—about the same duration people stick to a diet. That means that on or about today, most people who proclaimed resolutions on new year’s eve have begun to abandon their plans for change. The reason for this is when we are looking at the big picture we can imagine how much better things will be if we are more fit, healthier, know more, successful and have better relationships. The rub comes when we get down to the details. It can be painful when meeting our long term goals means we have to get up in the dark to go running, ask for salad instead of fries or turn down a piece of cheesecake.

Casually made resolutions crumble easily when they come up against the cold hard light of reality unless we are especially good at holding ourselves accountable. I know a lot of very responsible people who are coaches and therapists and many of them are not particularly good at the accountability part. So why would you be any different?

That doesn’t mean that change is impossible or even that difficult. Instead of making resolutions, you can focus on clarifying your goals. Identifying your goals goes a long way to keeping you focused and holding yourself accountable. It’s well documented that successful people make goals and stick to them. Perhaps the best resolution is to never make resolutions again. Goals are something you can work toward every day if they stand for things you truly want.

There are plenty of resources that will help you figure out what your goals are, some of which are on my website in the articles and resources section.

A shortcut is to hire a coach who will help you identify your strengths, values, beliefs and passion, all of which will help you recognize your goals. A coach can also help you identify how you get in your own way, preventing you from succeeding (this is oh, so human) and provide accountability, often the biggest reason resolutions and goals fail.

Good luck with your goals in 2011. It’s as good a time as any to start making good things happen in your life.

originally published in Jan. 2010.