Five Facts You Must Know When Changing Careers

Too often in life, we fail. We fail not because we set our goals to high and miss achieving our aspirations. Instead, we fail because we set our dreams too low and we achieve them. If we achieve what we set out to do then how is this considered to be a failure? Failure occurs when we are not fulfilling our highest aspirations. Theresa Castro, executive career coach and author of The Dark Before the Dawn: 70 Secrets to Self-discovery, provides insight on what anyone can do while they are in the midst of wanting to change careers.

ADOPT THE INNONENCE OF A CHILD

We begin our lives as children with lofty goals. For example, a child might decide that they would like to grow up and become an astronaut and travel to the moon. This child doesn't have the ability to place any limitations on themselves. They don't think about what degree they need to possess in order to be an astronaut. They don't become worried about all of the details that are necessary to achieve this dream. Instead, the child just knows that they are passionate about space exploration. When you are in the midst of a career change, think and dream like a child. Let your passions lead you in a direction that is right for you.

ELIMINATE ANY LIMITATIONS

Society, friends and/or family members can put a damper on your hopes and tell you that you are incapable of achieving your highest vision. You may be told that you are too old, not smart enough, don't have enough money, don't have the right education or experience or just simply are the wrong race or sex. The reality of these limitations exists only in the mind. You have the choice to either believe or doubt the limitations. That's right, you have a choice. You can choose to be like the great composer, Beethoven, who was once told by his music teacher that as a composer he was hopeless. Beethoven recognized that he would not be stopped by the label that his music teacher placed on him even despite the fact that he was deaf.

GET RID OF THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T SUPPORT YOU

When you are changing careers, you may find that you struggle with your own bouts of self-doubt. The last thing that you need is for other people to tell you what you should and shouldn't be doing especially when you recognize that they are not fully supporting your efforts. With these people (and we all have them in our lives), you will need to advise them that you love and care for them but you would appreciate if they kept their comments about your ambitions to themselves. If you don't eliminate outer sources of negativity, you will find your passions getting buried deep inside yourself.

RECOGNIZE THAT MONEY IS AS PLENTIFUL AS THE AIR

People sometimes don't pursue a particular career path because they believe that they won't make the same or more money than what they are currently earning. Again, recognize that this belief is a limitation. Work towards eliminating these thought patterns. Instead, realize that with any and every job, you have the potential to make as much money as you desire. That's right. You can make as much money as you desire. Even though Henry Ford was poor and uneducated, he dreamed of a horseless carriage and his dream became a reality of what we know today as the automobile. Thus, you must have the mindset that money is just as plentiful as air.

Do you ever find yourself concerned that you might not have enough air? Do you keep track of the number of breaths that you are taking within the day so that you don't run out? The answer is no and in fact someone would think that you are crazy if you thought that you were going to experience an air shortage. The same is true for money. The mindset of plenty is the first step in creating the wealth that accompanies your passions.

LOOK AHEAD

The best way to squelch your fears is to keep your eyes focused on the dream that you desire. Stephen Covey says that you should have the end in mind. Ask yourself, what do you ultimately want to become? What do you want people to say about you when you die? When you stay focused on your dream, it becomes easier to attain since you can then develop the necessary steps that will take you from where you are today to where you want to be. Making a career change then becomes less daunting and more systematic.

Keep in mind that if you work 40 hours per week then you will work about 2000 hours per year. Even if you are five years away from retirement, could you fathom doing your job for another 10,000 more hours? If not, make a change in your career. Your future and happiness are waiting for you!

Theresa Castro, MBA, dedicates her life to assist others to stop dreading the workday and to discover a passionate and fulfilling career. She is a career coach and author of The Dark Before the Dawn: 70 Secrets to Self-discovery and The Secrets to Discovering Your Dream Job. Visit http://www.DiscoverYourDreamJob.com for more information and to sign up for a free 3 day mini-course.


More Resources

Take the Personal Out of the Workplace: Leave Your Troubles at the Door!
Bringing your emotional baggage into the work place is inappropriate for all the reasons you may imagine. Yet employees, managers and business owners do it all the time.
Job Interviews: Identifying & Using Your Most Important Asset
When you're looking to get hired or get promoted, what do you think is your most important asset? Your experience? Knowledge? Skill? Talent?While all of those are advantages that will help you achieve your goals, there's one thing that's more important than all of them combined.Your attitude!Let me illustrate my point.
Make Your Résumé Sizzle with Success Stories
In today's competitive job market you can't afford a résumé that fizzles. Power up your résumé with solid success stories.
Why a Professional Resume?
As a job search tool your Resume is your main calling card. It explains who you are and what you have to offer.
You Never Get A Second Chance To Make A First Impression
There is no easy way to define exactly what editors, publishers, PR managers, non-profit directors, advertising executives, and other industry professionals want from writers. There are no written guidelines, standard requirements, or official specifications that apply to writing jobs across the board.
Lost Your Job? Ten Ways to Bounce Back!
Whether you've been right-sized, downsized, underutilized, or just plain fired, looking for work is a life-changing experience that rocks your world. Regain your equilibrium with these ten strategies and get back to being your best.
What is Absolutely the Best Day to go on a Job Interview?
First of all, to fully understand and appreciate the answer, a couple of givens must be taken into account. What I believe to be the most important item for dealing with an interview successfully is, your attitude.
Nonverbal Interview Behavior
Non-verbal interview behavior can drown out your verbal self-presentation.Practice interviewing in front of a full-length mirror or, better yet, videotape yourself if you have access to such equipment.
Create a Network and Catapult Your Job Search
Networking is still known as a great job-search strategy, yet it eludes some individuals simply because they don't know how to go about it. Individuals also tend to shy away from networking because it's time consuming.
How To Pick The Best Career For You, Part 1
In Part One we'll look at how Positioning or "Coming to a Theater Near You" simplifies and expedites your employment hunt by reinforcing employer buy-in through justification of the sale.Rapidly gain employer agreement that you're the right person for the job by proving how their organizational needs are met through your specific abilities to solve their identified problems.
Working in Dubai
Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is one of the world's fastest growing employment hotspots in the world. Up to 20 new companies establish themselves in the emirate's free trade zones every week and since 2002 some 650 companies have registered in the Dubai Media City free trade zone alone.
Franchising Offers NO Guarantees --
You have to ask --- IS a FRANCHISE FOR YOU?There are NO guarantees. You invest your money and take your chances.
Network Now
Have you ever been to a networking event that was awkward, frustrating and nothing more than a business card exchange? In his book MANHATTAN SOCIETY: The Art & Spirituality of Networking, Chris London says "Networking with integrity creates a greater willingness of all parties to be part of a human conduit to serve as energy and resource to one another. Sometimes you will give more than you receive and sometimes you will get back more than you give.
Resume Writing - Get That Job
Looking for a new job, whether it is with a new company or a promotion within your own organisation, requires time and effort. To make your job search more effective you need to take five fundamental steps on the road to success:• Analysing your skills• Writing a winning Resume• Managing your job search• Coaching for interview success• Negotiating your job offerStep 1: Analysing your SkillsThe most crucial step in the job search process is to assess what skills you have to offer to your future boss.
Job Hunting Tips: Taking Care of Yourself
Looking for work is generally a miserable undertaking. No matter how much education and experience you have, you are in a powerless and vulnerable position.
Resume Software - The Hidden Pitfalls
Disadvantages of Resume SoftwareFormatA large majority of software requires the use of their format; most commonly using the chronological resume style. While the chronological style is certainly the most traditional manner to write a resume, it is not always advantageous for everyone.
Corporate World: Jungle Or Paradise?
The road to the top is not easy, it is bumpy and dirty. Along the way, we meet interesting creatures.
Searching for a Federal Job
Many years ago searching for a federal job was a long, complicated and drawn out process. Today, it has been become far less complex and is now just a three-step process.
Are You Eking Out a Living, and Cant Get What You Want from a Job?
Many people are working at jobs they don't wantand they hate to go there every day. Are you oneof them?Let's start by examining how you got into this kindof "pickle" to begin with.
Reinventing Yourself for Multiple Careers
In many countries around the globe, people are born into their station in life and hence their professions. It is unnecessary for them to plan a career as they are expected to perform one specific job their entire lives.

More Careers & Employment Information:

Related Articles

Youre Bright And Talented -- TooT Your Own Horn --
Obviously, there are RIGHT ways to move UP the ladder. Being in the right place certainly has tremendous benefits.
60 Hour Work Weeks - Can You and Your Career Survive Them
In the 80s while I was an account executive for AT&T most people in my organization worked normal (for then) business hours. By that I mean they arrived close to 8 or 8:30AM and left between 5 and 5:30PM.
Listening for Interview Success
Yes I know that we usually think of interviews as us doing all the talking, but the reality is different. At least 40% of the time we should be listening, and what we hear will have an enormous effect on what we say.
Surviving in Corporate Amercia: Part 1 - Email
There is a saying that goes, "The best offense is a great defense". Nowhere is that applied better in the corporate world than in the intelligent use of email.
Helping Mid-Life Employees Find Meaning
People work to live, but most also live to work. A study on the meaning of work conducted back in 1987 revealed a strong attachment to work as a way of life.
Searching for Jobs Online
Searching for jobs online is easier than ever, but also more confusing than ever. Any Internet user doing a job search online will find that they can choose from hundreds of national employment listing web sites and the numbers can often be staggering.
Your First Summer Work in the UK - Picking Strawberries The Right Way
Most jobs on farms in the UK involve picking strawberries or berries in general, raspberries and possibly other berries with which I have not have the lucky chance to pick.Picking strawberries is very demanding and hard work and if this being your first summer job, then it will take lots of patience and clear mind.
The Five Most Common - And Most Avoidable - Résumé Errors
Writing an effective résumé can certainly be challenging. There are numerous rules and none of them apply 100% of the time.
Personal Contacts: The Key to Successful Networking
When the word "networking" is used, we tend to think of upwardly mobile college graduates with a bursting day timer in hand chatting up the competition at business meetings, conventions, or workshops. The average blue/pink/white collar worker disconnects, feeling that they could never be that pushy, don't know enough people to even start the attempt, and that the method only works in competitive business environments.
Retirement: Is It A Career Change Option?
Retirement might be the answer when you ask yourself "why do I want to make a career change" and you decide that what you actually want is not so much a career change as to stop what you've been doing altogether.This may be a good choice for some - those who can afford it - but not necessarily the right choice for all.
Competency Based Interviews - 6 Steps to Success!
Competency based interviews are intended to get the best from you, the candidate, whilst also fulfilling the needs of the organisation to get the very best person for the job. There are some easy steps to make the most of yourself and have a much better chance of success.
Successful Job Interview Tips
Congratulations! You've finally landed that job interview you've been waiting for. Now the real work begins! Remember, resumes don't get jobs; they merely get you in the door.
Mystery Shopping for Fun and Profit
How would you like to get paid to go shopping? That's right! Get paid to shop for clothes, eat in restaurants, watch movies, play golf, travel, and so on.You can have your cake and eat it too! Enjoy the best ofboth worlds.
Job Interviews: Answering Whats Your Greatest Weakness?
Many interview guides advise candidates to answer the common "What's your greatest weakness?" question with a positive trait disguised as a weakness. For example, "I tend to expect others to work as hard as I do," or "I'm a perfectionist.
The Computer-Friendly Resume
The evolution of technology is changing the traditional methods for job searching and recruiting. More and more companies are now relying on computers to initiate the process of hiring and are filling their database with candidates with skills that are easily searchable.
Genes and Work Ethic
If you have good genes, you are blessed. If they are exceptional, you might be successful on that alone.
Job Hunting Tips: Organizing Your Attack
Looking for work is an energy-devouring ordeal, often leading to running in circles and not getting anywhere. A systematic approach can help you focus on your goal, avoid wasting the energy you need to conserve for interviews and employer contacts, and lower your stress level.
Your Salary: What Are You Worth?
Why is it a good idea to determine your worth? Whether you plan to stay at your current job or seek employment elsewhere, your assessment of your worth can become a bargaining chip should you choose to negotiate for higher compensation. It's a reference point on your way to improving not only your standard of living but your sense of self as well.
Business Experience is YOUR Security Cover
Some may want to interpret "independent" to mean WITHOUT others. None of us are truly independent or able to make it in life alone.
Cover Letter Sample -- For the Corporate Flight Attendant
Writing a cover letter to send with your résumé can be both confusing and frustrating. What exactly should you say? Are you saying too much? Are you only speaking about your needs vs.