It may sound a bit odd but thanks to income tax, I had an interesting realization. We missed the deadline to file our returns. I know, we were late but in our defense we have been very busy sorting through the changes we have been going through since this time last year. While that may not be a very good excuse, it is the truth. But that was not the realization I had.
This tax year was the first time ever we had enough paperwork to submit returns from both of our home-based businesses. For me, that signaled the official end of our midlife career change. The transition was done. We are now officially working for ourselves with new careers that came from two very different part-time hobbies. Our new lives are underway. The reason why I am sharing this is to show you that if you are faced with a decision related to a midlife career change, I can offer some reassurance. You can do it. However, it is going to be scary at times and you will have a lot of questions and nowhere to turn for some of those answers. So, here are a few tips to help guide you through the process of a career change. 1 – You Can Do Anything This is the most important thing to remember. Even if you don’t have the support of family or friends, you have to keep in mind that you are making this change in careers later in life for your sanity. I was lucky to be going through my transition with my wife, Brenda. We were both experiencing the same thing and found it better to work through it together. 2 – You May Already Have It As for what you will change your career to in your mature years, you may already have something in place without knowing it. There has to be something in your life you find pleasing to do and that could be the start. As I’ve mentioned, both Brenda and I started different hobbies at the same time. They eventually became our new midlife careers. 3 – You Have To Be Patient I set and unofficial timeline of a year before I thought my new career path could take off. It was already busy as a part-time venture and it had potential of becoming a full-time career early on but I needed to also take some time to cultivate the client base. It had spurts and burps along the way but is only just recently started to grow to where I wanted it to be. 4 – You Need To Enjoy It The biggest hurdle we all face is when we change careers we sometimes go from a bad situation to an ever worse one. The idea behind a successful midlife career change is to transition into something you like doing. This makes it feel less like a job and if you have fun doing something that earns you money, it’s a lot easier to keep doing and staying with as a career choice. That’s My Story And I’m Sticking With It As I’ve stated, it was not all sunshine and roses going through our midlife career changes. It was probably at least as scary as it was exciting, but we got through it. You will, too. Once you find the right choice that fits into your life and still gives you room to enjoy your life. To find out more about our journey, check out my eBook “Surviving Midlife Career Changes.”
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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
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