Maybe you’re starting your own business. Maybe you’re going through a mid-life crisis and you realize it’s time to start a new career. Maybe you set out on the career path you thought you wanted and found you no longer enjoyed it.
Whatever your reason may be, tons of people decide to make major career changes at some point throughout their lives – whether it is early on or 25 years into a career that’s already been started.
Research shows that what we enjoy and what job makes us happy will change as we age, and it is therefore important to be open to new ideas to keep ourselves happy.
If you’re changing careers or thinking about changing careers, here are some tips to find your true happiness and continue your success:
1 – Determine Your Ideal Lifestyle
Are you currently working in a job that has you at a desk from 9am-5pm, and finding it hard to sit through the pain-staking 8 hours of busy work only to come home and be bored and too tired to do anything fun? Or do you work late and miss out on family time or time spent enjoying your life with friends and family?
The first step in switching careers is to determine what it is that you want out of your life. Do you want to be there for your kids or for your family, or do you not mind working strange hours? Do you want to sit at a desk and waste away the day or do you want to be outside working on something under the sun?
These are all important questions to ask yourself. If it’s time to enjoy your life that you want, you’ll probably be happier in a position that only takes up your days and allows you time at night and on weekends to enjoy yourself. If you’re bored with your job and want to work more hours, look for something with an opportunity for overtime or that will keep you busy most of the day or even into the night.
Money also factors into your lifestyle desires. If you want to be going out all the time having fun or taking exotic vacations, you’ll need to be able to support that lifestyle, whereas if you want more time to relax at home by yourself or with your family, money might not be much of a factor for you.
2 – What is Your Passion?
Do you work in business, but your passion lies in art? Or do you work as an office manager and your passion is for music? Or perhaps – do you work in a creative space and your dream is to become an entrepreneur?
Whatever your dreams are, wherever your passion lies, that is what you should be doing with your life. You will find immense happiness in a job that you actually enjoy doing versus one that you do just for the money.
Don’t be afraid to chase what you love. Sure, there are rumors that people in art or music or any other creative industry don’t make as much money as those in science or finance, but that’s not always necessarily the case. The truth is, a job is what you make of it. If you love something, you’ll naturally be good at it, so you’ll be more successful.
Do what you’ve always wanted to do – there’s never a bad time to start trying, and you may end up surprising yourself at just how successful you’ll be in your new position.
3 – Don’t Be Held Back
Just because you studied a particular topic in school and that’s what your degree is in does not mean that you are obligated to continue on that path if it no longer makes you happy.
There may also be family pressure to, say, take over a family business that you have no interest or desire in, for example. If you don’t love it, don’t do it. Don’t let anyone or anything pressure you into doing something that does not make you happy. You are the one that has to live your life – not anyone else.
4 – Study
Once you’ve found a new career path that you feel is right for you after considering what you love to do and what kind of lifestyle you want to be able to lead, you may find that your ideal new career is one that you’ve never really delved into and have no professional experience in.
That’s OK. If you are willing, take a position that offers on-the-job training that will teach you how to be good at your new career. Maybe you’ve just jumped into marketing, for example, and have never worked in the field before – well, find a marketing agency that is willing to train you. The same is true for any field.
Then, since your new employer is taking the time to train you in your new position, do your homework, too. It’s never a bad idea to buy industry books or read relevant blogs that can give you insight, tips and advice on your new career path.
Learn as much as you can if you want to be successful in a brand new field, and learn it from every possible outlet you can find. Listen in on meetings if you can. Talk to your co-workers about the industry. Do some research. The more you know, the more you’ll succeed.
5 – Be Open to Change
Perhaps the best advice for anyone in the process of or even thinking about switching to a new career is to be open to change. Be willing to look into opportunities that you never thought of before. You may find something you had never considered but end up loving.
If you’ve chosen a new career path already, be open to the fact that your position could quickly change. Your new employer could find some of the talents that you have from a previous job to be particularly helpful in your new position and could ask for more responsibility on your part. You just never know.
Be ready to try anything and learn anything. Part of finding both success and happiness in a new career is being ready for new things to be thrown at you and being prepared to learn as much as you can about them, even if they don’t necessarily interest you right away. Become interested – it’s as easy as that.
In summary, find what you love, and do it for the rest of your life. Don’t hesitate or hold back – get on it now before you miss out.
Credits: Photo courtesy of Jenny Watson.