How to Transition to A New Career: Four Pillars of Successful Career Change – Part 1

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

While you are mining for your most authentic career, your focus needs to be on the What rather than the How. Once you get clear about What you would like to do to make a life as opposed to making a living, you can move to the next phase and start thinking about How – what are the steps to get to what you want to do.

From a big picture viewpoint, you will need to cultivate the following four pillars in order to succeed at your endeavors:

• Knowledge, Skills and Credentials

• Confident Decisiveness, Self-Reliance and Action

• Important Associations, Support and the Advice of Professionals

• Marketing and Assertive Promoting of Your Services and Products

Let’s take a closer look at these pillars of success.

Knowledge, Skills and Credentials

If you don’t yet have information about requirements for your new occupation, do your homework. Can you transfer your current skills and experience into your new career choice? If yes, great! If not, do not despair. Instead, find out which additional skills or credentials you need to acquire in order to achieve your professional goals.

Do you need to go back to school to study nutrition, psychology, marketing or finance? Will hiring a coach provide the support and assistance you need to achieve your goals? Does the work that you are aspiring to do require formal education and licensure or will self-study and experience suffice? Find out and get going!

Most occupations now require a variety of expertise but don’t get yourself overwhelmed – you may choose to master them one at a time. If you feel that there is a gap in your knowledge-base that stands between you and your vision, get busy!

You may sign up for pertinent teleseminars or webinars and obtain a lot of valuable information that way. You can learn useful information, often free of charge, and also get the opportunity to connect with experts and test their systems at no risk or cost.

There are a lot of educational seminars, workshops and associations in almost any area of interest. There are internship and volunteering opportunities. Whether it’s marketing, negotiation skills, media exposure or accounting, you can find ways to obtain the necessary knowledge to fill the gaps or hire professionals to assist you.

Confident Decisiveness, Self-Reliance and Action

If you are really sick and tired of feeling stuck and wasting your life while envying others’ successes – get excited, get angry, get passionate and…ACT. Don’t worry about other people’s opinions about whether your career choice is good for you. You are in charge of your life and your decisions. Be willing to bear the consequences of your choices and get ready to stand up for what you know is right for you!

Confident decisiveness will help you deal with worries and the ‘what if’ paralysis; it will provide you with a sense of control and allow you to grow in self-confidence. This is the way to personal freedom!

When you exude confident decisiveness, people around you feel it and respond with respect and interest, sometimes even admiration. It works whether you are an employee, a consultant or a business owner. This quality inspires others and encourages cooperation and support. It comes from your inner conviction, from your resolve to live your life in a way that feels right to you!

Here is the caveat: if you want to be in control of your life as opposed to drifting through it unfulfilled and unhappy, you must be willing to take full responsibility for your emotions, decisions and actions. I love what Daniel S. Kennedy stated in his book The Ultimate Success Secret:

“You will continue to be unimportant as long as you depend on others to make you feel important.

“You will continue to be un-prosperous as long as you depend on others to make you prosperous.

“You will continue to be uninspired as long as you depend on others to make you inspired.”

I would add that you will continue to be unhappy as long as you depend on others to make you happy.

Most likely, you will encounter a few challenges while implementing your career vision. But instead of focusing on the obstacles and complaining about the reasons you cannot get to your goal sooner, get creative and focus on the solutions and opportunities.

The real challenge is not the obstacles or the mistakes you make along the way, but your willingness to be self-reliant and take responsibility for your situation. The key is to act with confidence and with your eye on possible solutions, regardless of external circumstances.

The fear of making mistakes often immobilizes people from taking actions. Then guilt, worry and anxiety take over and you lose your drive and confidence. The simple secret of overcoming this fear of mistakes trap is taking action by making even small steps toward your vision. Your desire to live your vision needs to be bigger than your fears.

If you make a mistake, course-correct to incorporate the new understanding you now possess! Action, like daylight, evaporates the fear of ‘what if’ and empowers you.

* Some of the text is taken from my International Bestseller book “A Shift toward Purpose” available on Amazon HERE

With Love and Gratitude,