There are many reasons why people will take a left turn in their career path later in life. I have covered many of them in previous blogs. For us, we found that our business was slowly dying and not recovering. It was sped up by changes in the industry we were in and combined with technology, we just could not keep up or compete. So we closed our doors.
While looking back on it I think we made a bold move, it was also a move that was made with many risks. This is normally the case with any type of change. For us, we had back up plans, although we may not have realized that at the time. If you are thinking of making a midlife career change, here are a few tips to help guide you through the transition. 1 – Define What You Need And What You Want This is about your personal priorities. If you desire changes in your career that give you more freedom or more income, these things have to be considered. If your plan is to slow down and work for yourself rather than for someone else, you have to be clear on your end game. Making the transition just because you are bored with your present job is not always the right answer. 2 – Take A Test Or Two If you really are not all that certain that this is the time for a midlife career change, there are ways to find out. There are several types of online tools and tests that you can take to help determine your career path. By using these you will be able to better define your career goals and if a change is required, then you’ll have some verifiable proof to back it up. 3 – Don’t Bury The Past There is a great thing about being able to use our past experiences in the present and future. They help us to understand what our goals actually are and if we achieved them or not. The story of your past work and community activities will show you places where you have been successful and where you have not been. These may give you new career targets to focus on. 4 – See A Career Counsellor There is nothing wrong with seeking the assistance of a professional. One of the best times to get to know a career coach is when you are considering a midlife career change. The advice and guidance you can receive from a career professional may help you to clarify your path. You may discover that your answer is right in front of you and just needs to be noticed. 5 – Take The Leap There are times you will never know if you’ve made the right choice if you don’t just go ahead and make the change. In our case, our back up plans turned into our new careers. But had we never considered them as viable options, we would never have ended up where we are now. We trusted our gut and took leaps of faith that paid off as our midlife career changes.
0 Comments
|
AuthorMy name is George Elliott. I have been in the Media Industry since 1978. I spent 23 years in Broadcasting and worked in a total of six different radio stations located in southern British Columbia Canada during my career. In 2000 I switched gears and moved into the Print Media Industry at a small town, local weekly newspaper. In 2004 I bought the paper and operated it with my wife, Brenda until July 2016 when we closed it. I launched a freelance web content and article writing business from my home in January 2014. Archives
April 2021
|