I was two weeks into my sparkly new institutional sales job. Up until that day, I had been so proud of myself and where I was in life. I had quit my job as a forwards broker on Wall Street a year ago, moved to Boston, got married, became Pilates certified, and even though the country was in the middle of a recession, I managed to land this new job fairly quickly! I was extremely fortunate.
I figured that my new position would be so much better: the people and culture of this company were more in line with my values, and the buzzing tech industry was a breath of fresh air compared to being chained to my desk for 10 hours a day in New York.
But then it hit me like a ton of bricks: landing this job was nothing to be proud of at all because it was a huge self-sabotaging stunt. It was one of those sabotages that was so cleverly camouflaged; it almost fooled me for real!
You see, this new job was just me trying to serve up the same confined life in a prettier bow, but in my heart, I knew I wasn’t interested in being boxed up in the old status quo. No new office or company culture was ever going to be enough for my free-spirited nature. The confinements of the cubicle life were doing one thing and one thing only: slowly sucking every inch of creativity and life out of me. What was worse was that I was letting it do so, because I was too scared to follow my true calling!
It probably sounds pretty familiar to you too! Think about it: How many times have you changed jobs just to realize a few months or years into it that you’re exactly where you were before: frustrated, burnt out, uninspired and stuck?
So stuck that you don’t even know:
Where to begin to find a career free from the 9 to 5 prison you currently find yourself locked in.
How you’d go about in putting the wheels in motion to create a practical and feasible roadmap leading to a truly meaningful career?
That was exactly how I felt in 2010, just 14 days into a new job for which I had no passion or interest.
It was right at that moment that I decided to make a commitment to myself. I vowed to design a life and career that was truly in line with all of my values, financial desires, and dreams for my future. I spent the next year getting crystal clear about what I wanted for my life and career and implemented the steps I’m about to share with you.
One year later, I confidently quit and seamlessly transitioned to a career that fueled my passion for helping people. What’s more is just two years after leaving that sales job, I was making more money than in my corporate gig. It was honestly one of the proudest and most rewarding transitions in my life.
Here is the step-by-step guide to help you move to a career you love:
1. Get crystal clear on what you want for your career and life.
The reason I found myself in that awful sales job was that I never took the time to really think what job I wanted and how that matched my passions and skills. It was like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole! To get crystal clear on your career path, take the time to connect with who you are, what your values are, and what you want and need in your life to be truly happy. You’ll get a ton of clarity from this short but exciting exercise!
2. Accept and make peace with that which you don’t like.
So often we keep pushing to make certain things work for us, even when we know that they don’t make us feel alive or happy. We struggle, fight and completely ignore our true selves to try and mold ourselves into something that we can never be just because, somewhere along the way, we’ve been sold or told that that’s what we need to be happy, get accepted or be successful. Stop trying to please the world and start listening to what your gut is telling you.
3. Find your sweet spot!
Based on your findings from steps one and two above, you can now start to explore the career options that interest and align with your core values. Tip: write down all of your core values, interests and requirements you would like your new job to have. I call this the non-negotiable list and I spend a lot of time helping clients to clarify this list. After that, you can begin to home in on certain industries or jobs that align with that list.
4. Focus and network.
Once you’ve established a few industries you’d like to focus on, ask yourself, “Where do people who work in these industries hang out?” Look for networking events on Eventbrite and don’t forget to use LinkedIn as a networking resource, too!
5. Reverse engineer your budget.
Look at all your expenses and the essentials you need to cover your cost of living and still feel happy and abundant in your life. This number will become your new minimum salary that you can earn.
6. Don’t waste time, implement your plan immediately!
The sooner you start implementing your plan, the faster all the pieces of your career puzzle will fall into place and the quicker you’ll land that perfect job for you!
These fail-proof steps have not only helped me to land my dream job, but it’s also the exact steps I use to help my clients build and design thriving careers they love. Starting the journey to your next career move can be an incredibly exciting time if you follow the right steps and have the right support group!