How to Navigate a Career Change in Your late twenties/early thirties
Are you stuck in a job or career that drains your energy and sucks the life out of you? Do you feel like something is missing in your life? Like you’re meant for more, but have no idea where to begin? We hear you. Getting up every morning knowing that you have to deal with the same monotonous and meaningless work over and over again each day with no way out is no way to live out your career.
First up - it is never too late to start something new, change direction or pivot your career entirely.
You have magic inside of you and gifts that are waiting to be expressed. When you suppress and ignore your natural-born gifts and fail to use these to be of service to others, those quiet whisperings from your soul only grow louder. You cannot ignore them forever. The truth is, life is too short to settle for a career/job you’re not obsessed with.
Thanks to the internet and the endless possibilities it has opened up, you have the power to literally invent the job and career of your dreams - from the comfort of your living room!
Want to know what else is amazing? You don’t need to give up your current job until you’re absolutely sure you want to take the leap. Worried your dream job doesn’t exist yet? Create it!
1. Follow your curiosity
When a big career change feels scary, overwhelming and impossible and you have no clue where to begin or what your next best step is - start with what you’re passionate about. Consider these things:
What do you love?
What do you get sucked down internet rabbit holes searching for information on?
What could you spend all day talking about and never get bored over it?
What books do you read?
What blogs do you follow?
Who inspires you?
What is a secret dream of yours that you’ve never shared with anyone?
Let your curiosity serve as clues to what you’re passionate about - keep following them and they will lead you to what lights you up and brings you joy.
2. Start small
We often hold ourselves back because we think we have to jump in and commit to something straight away, but that couldn’t be further than the truth. Chances are you’ve never had the opportunity to fully explore and find out what it means to be you.
By starting small and investing the time into understanding who you are at your core, means you’re one step closer to finding a fulfilling career, doing work you truly love. Why not use a blog as a dedicated space for you to explore your passions and try them on for size? Chances are you’ll find out pretty quickly whether or not something will sustain your interest. Isn’t it better you find out, instead of always regretting the ‘what if’s’ because you never gave yourself the chance?
3. Design your dream job.
Isn’t it an amazing thought to know that 10 years ago, the job opportunities and career paths that are available today, didn’t even exist? Can’t find your dream job? Create it yourself! Gone are the days when you need to wait around for the perfect job that ticks all of your boxes; or stick with a career forever. The internet has changed everything. And now, for the first time in history, you are in the driver's seat and get to design your dream job and career - exactly how you want it.
Ask yourself:
What would my dream job look like?
What would I be doing all day?
Would I work from home? In an office? On the beach?
Would I be selling a product, or perhaps a service?
How many hours a day do I want to work?
Are you stuck in the wrong career?
Grab our FREE ‘Setting a Career Vision’ guide where we take you through
our simple system for creating career alignment, so you can start doing
the meaningful work you love.
4. Don’t expect the journey to be linear.
Ok, time for some real talk: it’s easy to assume that once you’ve nailed what your dream job looks like and created a roadmap for how you’ll get there, that everything will run on schedule as said plan. The reality is that there will be so many ups and downs on your journey. Some days you’ll be killing it and some days you’ll be questioning why the heck you’re doing it at all.
5. Take the risk - but be strategic about it.
There will be a point when you’ll have no choice but to take the risk and leap into your new career. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be smart and strategic about it. Set a goal for when you want to be fully in your new career and then work out the plan for how you will get there. The best things about having an online business are that you can start your new path as a side hustle to test it out and see how it fits. This is exactly what we did with our company. We’d already been blogging for some time, testing out what people liked. Side-hustling allows you to iron out the kinks before you take the leap full time as well as giving you the perfect launching pad to start your new journey.
Changing careers and pivoting into work you love is definitely challenging, but absolutely worth it. These simple strategies will help you successfully navigate this path with ease, confidence and grace.
Let us know in the comments - have you successfully pivoted your career? What lessons did you learn on your journey? Are you just starting out - which one of these strategies help you the most on this path?