Breaking Out of the Box – 6 Steps to Career Bliss

So many Americans suffer from mid-career crisis or professional stagnation. If I had a dollar for every time I heard: “I’ve been doing the same job for years, but I don’t really like what I do” I would be writing this from a nice little private island. It’s a scary world out there and many of us feel like we need to bite our lip and do whatever is necessary to get a paycheck and to heck with things like dreams and career development. To heck with things like dreams and career development, who has time!? The problem is, we can lose touch with who and what we want to be when we ‘grow up’.  I get it – in this economy most people think that they are just lucky to have a job, but it doesn’t have to end there.

Some of the professionals that come to me are simply lost in the career quagmire, discontent and feel like it’s just too darn difficult to reinvent themselves to succeed in breaking out of the box.

“We like to blame the economy and our money problems for our unhappiness, but that’s not the root cause of this career malaise.  There are other reasons for feeling disconnected from what you do for a living. Who would have believed that there could be millions of people working in jobs and careers they hate, not able to figure out how they want to be of service in the world?” – Kathy Caprino

I’m not casting blame here. This was me for many years; lost and afraid to make a change. Even though my almost [then] 15 year career in project management was successful, by outward appearance, I still felt the pressure of that unseen glass ceiling. I was over-worked and hugely under-paid, but I was comfortable. Oh, I’d give myself all sorts of justifications for accepting status quo… “At least my work is close to home” …”There’s value in the free time I get”… “I can leave my work at work”… “I’ve built relationships here”… and the list goes on.

The sad fact is: complacency does not build successful careers.

Stop Making Excuses

Since then I stood up for what I believed in, followed my dream and focused on my passion for professional [career coaching] and leadership development coaching. I can see through my excuses with a clear lens of understanding why people are resistant to change and what works to overcome that fear. I’d like to share with you a Career Change Action Plan to help you overcome your roadblocks, understand your value, and find a path that intersects your passions with your specialty, financial needs, life intentions, core values and more.

Box Trapping Assumptions

It’s too easy to allow status quo push you down the long career road and let the speed of life, pressures of personal responsibilities, and fear of change transform from speed bumps into insurmountable mountains. Change is really only as hard as we make it and commonly: we become victim of our own expectations and assumptions of what we need to make us happy.

• I need to make $XXXXXX per year to live the way I’d like
• My relationships will suffer if I make a change
• I’m too old to handle a transition this late in the game
• I don’t have the skills to reinvent myself
• I have no idea what I’d refocus my career on anyway
• I’ve never been good at much, I’m just average
• I haven’t kept up on trends, there’s no way I’d compete
• I don’t have any special abilities or skills
• I’ve been doing XXXXX for way too long
• The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence

Now if you read any of these and they ring a bell, you aren’t alone. I let many of these assumptions keep me in stagnate positions for over half of my life. I’ve done the negative self-talk and I’ve felt like I wasn’t good at anything really – just mediocre… Until I finally woke up.

1. Breaking Out of the Box – Can You?

You certainly can break your success barriers – but it might be a challenge to try for a life-change in a vacuum! You simply cannot necessarily see your own potential, special talents, and capabilities without bringing someone along with you to help you discover your true direction. Reach out to someone you respect, who is informed, and fulfilled in what they do. Someone who doesn’t have an agenda about where your new direction might lead you. Get a mentor or a coach today that will advise you, see what is holding you back, guide your steps, and help you understand your true value and the vast amount of possibilities that await you.

2. If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix it

This phrase has made me cringe more times that I’d care to think about. But there IS a balance in making a major career shift because you want to follow your passion and making one because you are just sick of where you are. If you woke up one day and realized that you are dissatisfied with where you are in your career – don’t simply throw the whole thing away. Now is a good time to have self-reflection, understand what you enjoy in your career, what you are good at, and what special skills you have to fuel a career shift.

For example, I was a very successful project manager for many years. This didn’t necessarily become a life-long passion for me but I developed and honed exceptional attention to detail, organizational and people skills, business analytics, team building abilities and a communication acumen that I draw heavily on today. These talents enable me to be a better coach to help individuals discover their why, create and implement career action plans, communicate their value, and find success in their lives.

3. Understand the Roadblocks Now

Before you make a change, have some honest self-talk and understand exactly what your existing roadblocks are in your current career. It’s extremely important to get a grasp on the root-causes of your existing unhappiness. In some cases, solving these enables some clients to find joy right where they are. Regardless of the root-cause of your dissatisfaction, you must feel more in touch with your true self, empowered, confident, and in control of your current situation before you can expect to attract a better option for your future. No one gets anywhere fast dragging around unnecessary baggage.

4. Foster Your Network

No one is a solo success story. Now is the time to surround with a powerful network of loyal colleagues who admire and appreciate you for what you are. Reach out to professionals, friends, and family that will give you the support you need to reach your goals. In addition to leveraging LinkedIn – you can join professional groups of like-minded colleagues that will happily network you into a larger community that can foster explosive growth in your new career path. It has helped me tremendously over the years to foster my network and, most importantly, don’t forget to give back.

Networking Tip:

Don’t approach every networking opportunity with the “what’s in it for me” attitude! The fastest way to establish trust and receive help is to offer help and value of your own first.

5. Find Your Focus

When I was struggling to find an exact focus for my business, my mentor said to me: “to find your magic you must understand where your unique skills intersect with your passion and experience”. Focusing was one of the hardest and scariest things for me to do as a small business owner reinventing my career. What if I picked the wrong focus?? However, the hard fact is – without a target for your career you will just spin in circles. The only way to find the drive and kick your new career into gear is to FOCUS.

• What are you recognized for being the best at?
• What significant value do you have to offer than is different than the experts in your field?
• What was your passion that got positive attention when you were a young adult?
• What value do you have to offer that would make you a ‘go-to’ person?
• What life experiences have you had that give you a unique perspective?
• What core values do you have that can be translated into a career parameter?
• What would you willingly do in a volunteer position or in servitude for greater good?
• What do you want to be your Legacy?

It will Evolve:

Know that the path you ‘try on’ may evolve over time into something else as you learn more, engage more, and become more than you ever thought you could be. It’s a bit like magic and know that, in order to grow, you cannot stay the same person you are today.

6. Make Your Magic Happen

When you find that intersection between your passion, your specialty, and what you can do to add value to others – you will make magic happen! The only way to do this is be real with yourself, understand what makes you special, resolve your roadblocks to success, do the research, and create an action plan. Here’s what Leadership Author of ‘Start With Why’, Simon Sinek, has to say about five rules to find your spark.

Find Your Spark – With Simon Sinek

Don’t make the blunders so many career changers make as they scramble for hammers to break out of their box. Ask yourself some key questions that could be critical to actualizing a feasible new future for you.

• What professional organizations or groups can support your transition?
• Are you fully committed to a change in your life and understand that your new path may evolve over time?
• Do you need to add any credentials, education, certifications, or skills to complete your career change?
• How will you remain financially stable during your transition?
• Are you just fed up with your current position and looking for a way out?
• Do you understand the steps you need to take to make your career shift?
• Do you have a mentor or coach that can assist you in removing roadblocks between you and your new future?

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As a gift to you, I would like to share a fun exercise that you can do at any time to help you find your focus. You can also share this with your mentor or coach as an aid to finding where your magic happens and how to start breaking out of the box.

I call this the Magic-Maker Brainstorming Exercise:

Need: a plain large piece of paper, pens of different colors (or markers), and a highlighter.

• Mark 3 columns on your piece of paper, lengthwise, down the page.
• First, label one column ‘Hopes‘ – list everything that you do right now that makes you happy (doesn’t need to be work related).
• Second, label another column ‘Dreams’– list everything that you dream to accomplish in your life no matter how relevant it is to your current state or not.
• Third: label the column ‘Wishes’– list everything that you would do if you had unlimited potential/resources/etc. Ideal world
• Then, go back into the first column and highlight which ones you feel could add value to others in some way…. Do the same with the second and third column.
• Next: See if you can connect any actions between the two columns of highlighted items. If you see items that are related or similar, can they be linked in some way – circle those in the same color pen or marker.
• Outcome: you will have generated what I call different ‘Paths’ combined out of what brings you happiness, fulfillment, adds value to others, and something you aspire to do. Each item circled in the same color pen or marker is a different Path you can take to find that Magic!
• From here you can create a Potential Paths List and drill down even further by bullet-pointing some basic steps to get from where you are to where you want to go. This can be completed on your own or with your mentor and coach.
  • Make sure you cross out any potential paths that include aspects that will drag you down, aren’t in your strength zone, creates an uncompromising drain on your resources, or aren’t physically feasible for some reason.

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