Harness the Olympic Spirit for your Career Path

What feelings did the Olmypics evoke in you? For me, it was pride and inspiration. Never before have I been so proud to be Canadian. Not because our athletes were successful on the podium (although that does help!), but because of the outpouring of patriotism and pride that our whole country displayed throughout the games.  I was inspired by the athletes – not just the Canadian athletes, but athletes from all over the world.  Hearing the stories of how the athletes perservered and overcame obstacles to get to the Olympics was truly inspiring.

There are lessons that we can all take away from these games and use in our own lives, including in our careers.  One, be proud of yourself.  Be proud of the journey that you travel and not necessarily on the end result.  Two, find ways to be inspired and to inspire others.  Be inspired to make that career path change that you have been wanting to make and be proud of yourself for doing it.  Enjoy the journey and harness the Olympic spirit!

Clean Your Dream Filters

As kids we dreamed of what we wanted to be when we grew up. There were no limitations. In fact, you were probably told that you could be anything you wanted to be. As you went through childhood and adolescence, your career path dreams changed many, many times, but you continued to dream without limits. In high school your career path dreams became filtered as you honed in on an area of specialization to concentrate on in post secondary education. In college/university your career path dreams were furthered filtered as you zeroed in on the profession you wanted to pursue.

As a new grad, your career path dreams were filtered to focus on that coveted first job in your chosen profession. At that point, your career path dreams were limited to “making it” in your field, which is great if you love your field of choice. The problem arises when you find that you are no longer happy with your career path. You find yourself unhappy and you haven’t dreamed of what you want to be in years. If you find yourself in this situation, then my challenge to you is to start dreaming of what you want to be and make sure to dream without filters. Write down the career paths that you think of. It doesn’t matter if you think you can do it, just write it down. After you have written down everything that you have dreamed of, give yourself time to process this list (a week, month – whatever works for you). Once you have your list, start narrowing it down by focusing on your interest and passions. Do research, conduct informational interviews, talk to your network to get more information to make your decision. The process will take time, but keep working at it. Every action you take – big or small – will get you closer to your dream.

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. ~ Walt Disney ~

A Little Inspiration

Change can be scary and overwhelming. We will often second guess ourselves on whether we are making the right change – especially when changing career paths. Amid the uncertainty of change, sometimes a little inspiration is needed. Perhaps these quotes will give you some inspiration to get you through your career path change.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. ~ Herman Cain (American business man, author, and speaker)

 The worst days of those who enjoy what they do, are better than the best days of those who don’t. ~ E. James Rohn 

Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy. If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined. ~ Johnny Cash (US comedian & TV host)

 Only I can change my life.  No one can do it for me. ~ Carol Burnett

 You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind. ~ Author Unknown

Whether it is one of these quotes or a different one, it is a great idea to post the quote that inspires you in a place where you can see it daily, so that it acts as a light at the end of the tunnel and provides you with the motivation to strive for it.

Career Fear

You are on a career path that you are not passionate about. You know what career path you want to be on, but you haven’t done anything to switch career paths.  Why? What is holding you back? Perhaps it’s fear. What is there to be afraid of? A lot! For starters there’s the fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of starting over, fear of losing stability in a profession that you are familiar with, fear of financial loss (if making the switch will result in a pay cut), fear of failure – the lists goes on and on.

Fear is a healthy emotion as long as you don’t let it paralyze your actions. The last thing you want is to be on the same career path 10 years from now and regret not taking action to fulfill your true career passion(s). Facing and overcoming fears is quite empowering. Having the support of your family, friends and even your co-workers is great, however only you can face your fears in an attempt to overcome them. So, once you have identified your fears, you can determine how you are going to strive to overcome them.

Your approach to changing career paths is personal and may be different than others – it will all depend on your circumstances. Perhaps going back to school or taking courses will best prepare and motivate you to make the change. Maybe you already have the necessary educational background, but lack working experience in your field of choice. In this case, volunteering in that field might be a good first step.

The idea is to take action. Do something that will help you start the shift toward your desired career path – take baby steps if you have to. Conduct an informational interview, take a course, volunteer, or job shadow. Taking steps (no matter how small) toward your goal will help to decrease the fear factor.

Have you faced your fears and switched career paths?

Ok I Graduated. Now What?

 “Ok I graduated. Now what?” I saw this slogan on a t-shirt and it rings so true – perhaps now more than ever. The world of work can be a very scary and confusing place, especially with more people exploring different fields throughout their careers. There are so many career options available and working in a number of different fields is not only acceptable, but has become the norm. This means that graduating students may have tough decisions to make. Do they want to work in their field of study? Can they find a job in that field? Will the jobs accommodate the lifestyle they would like to lead? If they can’t find a job in their field, or don’t want to work in their field, then what field do they want to work in? What field are they qualified to work in? Do they need to go back to school?

There a lot of decisions that new grads have to face, which may become overwhelming. As new grads will discover, making tough decisions is something that they will have to face throughout their career – especially since it is likely that they will switch paths at least once in their career. Learning how to be self aware of likes, dislikes, passions, strengths, weaknesses, etc. will go a long way in helping them make career decisions. In this tough economy, those coming out of school now might be forced to take a job that is not in their field in order to pay the bills. However, there may come a time when they will have to make a decision of whether to switch into their field of choice. The work of becoming self aware needs to done before career decisions are made. Having said that, self awareness is an ongoing process and a person should take stock in themselves frequently as they gain new experiences. It is never to early to start this process and should be continued throughout one’s career. Decisions about career paths are difficult ones to make, but the more you know about yourself, the easier the decisions may be.

What decisions have you had to make about your career?

Career Path Detour

 

I’ve written about switching career paths entirely, but there are people who take detours on their career journey rather than switching career paths. Some have found their passion and want to stay on the same career path, but take a detour in order to accommodate other important things in their lives. I would define a career path detour as taking time away from the current career path and rejoining that path at a later date.  There are a number of reasons that a person could take a career path detour: caring for children and/or parents, going to school, travelling, volunteering, etc.

Whatever the reason, taking a leave from paid work may be a difficult decision for some to make. A person may feel like they are going to miss out on opportunities in their career while they are away, or that they may be looked upon unfavourably because they have decided to take a leave. For others, the decision may be an easy one. It will depend on the reason for the leave and the person making the decision.

For those who had to resign their position to take a leave, there could be challenges in re-entering the workforce. Depending on their circumstances, they could need to look for alternative work arrangements (part time, reduced work week, flex time, etc). Others may face challenges re-entering the workforce if they took an extended leave and have been out of the workforce for years.

The fact remains that everyone’s career story is unique. Whether you change your career path or take a career path detour, all of the experiences that you encounter will help to shape your overall career story.

Have you taken a career path detour? What is your story?

Personal Success: A Personal Choice

The definition of success is very subjective – it is different for everyone.  Some may define it by the amount of money they earn, their job title, their status, and their possessions, while others may use such factors as their level of happiness to measure their success.  I think that society as a whole has generally defined success by money and status, but perhaps that is slowly changing as more and more people start to create their own definitions of success.  Let me clarify that I am referring to personal success for this posting.  The success of a company, for example, is dependent on earning money as well as other factors; a company can’t be successful if it is a happy company, but isn’t earning money.    

Ask yourself this question.  If you were in a high powered position and earning a high income but you were not happy, would you feel successful?  Only you can answer that question.  Creating your own definition of success is important and there is no right or wrong definition as long as you can live by it and be happy with it.  Whatever you choose your definition to be, it may help you to make decisions regarding your career path.  If you are at a crossroads in your career and need to make the next step, then make sure that whatever decisions you make about that next step will help you fulfill your quest for success. 

Beware of other peoples’ opinions of success.  You may feel conflicted if the people around you think that you are successful, but you do not feel successful based on your own definition.  You have to remember that it’s your life and you have to live it for you and not for others.  So, if you haven’t already figured out what your definition of success is, then now is the time to define it.

Re-pot Your Career

Re-pot your career!  I heard this great analogy at an event that I recently attended.  If a plant stays in the same pot, then it will survive, but it may not grow and may become root bound.  If you re-pot a plant, chances are that the plant will grow bigger and thrive. Think of your career as the plant.  How can you re-pot your career?

How Many People Have Made the Wrong Career Path Choice?

I came across an interesting article in the Globe and Mail’s Globe Careers section on Wednesday June 10, 2009, entitled “Did You Make the Right Career Choice” by Christine Wong.  The article not only tells the career story of a man who changed his career path, but it also gives some interesting statistics.  The article cited a survey of 11,000 Canadians, conducted by Kelly Services, that found that 10 – 12% of people surveyed felt that they chose the wrong career path and an additional 24% of people were not sure if they had made the right career field choice.

This is not only an issue in Canada, but also throughout the world.  In fact, the article cites another survey of 115,000 people from 33 countries that states that up to 50% of people surveyed felt that they picked the wrong career path. 

The reasons for these wrong choices are many and vary person to person.  For those who have already embarked on their career paths, it is important for them to recognize when and if they are on the wrong path and then do something about it.  For those who have not yet started the working part of their career path, the article offers some suggestions that may help young people start out on the right path.  Young people could: 1) take a wider variety of courses on high school and college to get a broader exposure to different fields, 2) travel, 3) complete self assessments, 4) make decisions based on their interests and passion, and not on their parents interests, and 5) volunteer to get exposure to different fields.

These statistics are evidence that many people struggle with the issue of finding themselves traveling along the wrong career path for a variety of reasons.  If you are one of these people, please share your story.  Maybe you could help to inspire someone else in a similar position.

Finding your passion

Recently I was speaking with a friend about finding passion in work.  Determining what your passion is can be a daunting task, but it can also be one of the most rewarding steps that you can take in your life.

Increasingly people are seeing a job as not only a means to making a living but also as a way to indulge in their passion.  It can be frustrating to be in a job that isn’t your passion, and worse, not knowing what your passion is.  I have often read that one way to determine your passion is by evaluating what you enjoy doing either at work or in your personal life, which sounds easy enough to do.  Finding a way to turn your passion into an income can be the difficult part.  But, what if you are having difficulty determining what your passion is?  All that you know is that you are not happy or passionate about what you are doing and are feeling like a square peg in a round hole.  Being in this type of situation can be emotionally draining and demotivating.  Some people who find themselves in this situation may just stay in the job because they do not know what else to do or are afraid of changing their career path.  A greater fear could be waking up 10 years from now in the same career path, still being unhappy (probably more so) and regretting the fact that you did not determine what your passion was. 

With the amount of time that people are spending at work and away from their families, it stands to reason that you should love what you do if at all possible.  Of course there is always the challenge of finding a balance between working in a job that you are passionate about and being able to earn a living.  Working at a job that you are passionate about is all well and good, but if you cannot support yourself, then it is not feasible for you.

It is something that many people struggle with.  Have you found your passion?  Are you working in your passion?  Share your story for those who are trying to find theirs!