Few life decisions are as scary as making a career change.
The good news is we can do a couple things to ease those fears. And not only that, we can use them to pave a greater future for ourselves.
I’m specially referring to 3 key questions that, if you find clarity about them way before you quit your job, you’ll avoid a lot of emotional turmoil in your career transition.
3 key questions you need to have clarity about.
Let’s imagine you finally quit your soul-sucking job (or you get unexpectedly fired).
At the very beginning, you’ll experience a huge sense of relief.
Thoughts like: “It was about time” will cross your mind. But I guarantee you that sooner than later -as the euphoria of your regained freedom fades away- your mind will start to wonder:
“And now what?”
That’s the first question that will cross your mind
You’re no longer trapped in a job you hate. Now you get to have what you want, don’t you?
The thing is, the freedom to choose will make you feel uncomfortable…
…because now you face a tough decision:
Will you search for another job? or will you use this as an opportunity to launch your dream business?
If you choose to find another job, a whole new process opens up for you: updating your resume, searching for job opportunities, doing job interviews…
That process involves its own set of fears but that’s not what I will cover in this article series. What I will share here is the emotional path of those who choose to follow their dream and start a business to do what they love.
So again, paraphrasing Robert Frost, if you choose “the path less travelled”, and work on your own terms, a second and very uncomfortable question will pop into your head.
The second question that will pop in your head will be:
“What do I enjoy doing?”
This question may seem easy to answer, but that’s not the case.
I’ve seen it again and again with my clients and students. Most of us have lots of passions. We have lots of ideas about what we could be doing, and choosing only one feel like pulling teeth.
In fact, the opposite is usually true.
It is a rare thing to find a person that’s only interested in one thing!
So, how do we choose?
From everything we love, are passionate about or interested in…
…how do we choose just one thing? or
…do we even need to choose only one thing?
And let me add a side note here.
If you’ve been in a soul sucking job for too long, you’ve probably learned to repress your wants and dreams in order to survive. You blocked that part of your mind and heart that allows you to connect with your true desires.
For this very reason, it’s not uncommon to find people who find it really hard to pinpoint what it is they really want.
For the last time, let’s pretend you know exactly what it is you enjoy doing…
The third question that will come to mind will be:
“-If I do what I love, will I be able to pay my bills?”
This is by far the scariest question of all. Because “do what you love and money will follow” is just a myth, you know that, don’t you?
There is one more piece to the puzzle of getting paid to do what we love, and that is to solve a problem others are willing to pay for.
So you need to validate if your business idea will be able to sustain you financially. And you better figure that out before you need the money.
Most people skip this process till it’s too late
I know that opening your mind to these 3 questions is a bit unsettling to say the least. And many people don’t even take the time to answer them until they’re confronted with their new reality as an unemployed person, but…
Can you see why finding the answers to these questions, way before you quit your job, will make your career transition so much pain free?
My suggestion for you is this.
Don’t wait till you’re laid off or so burnt out in your job that your only option is to quit cold turkey. The time to find these answers is now.
And since I know this can be confusing, I’ve created my Career Clarity Cards to make it more fun and easy.
I invite you to get your FREE access to the Career Clarity Cards by visiting:
http://www.tappingyourpurpose.com/freestuff/careerclaritycards
