A year ago, I vowed to change my career path. Here’s what I learned…

A year ago, I had a light bulb moment. The clouds parted and suddenly I had the clarity which would answer all my work frustrations!

Just kidding. That’s not even close to what happened.

Okay. Now the truth.

A year ago, I felt well… Done. My business had lost its sparkle for too long, and I knew I needed to change course in my life. I was overcome with a nagging feeling that there was something else out there that I should be doing.

But I just couldn’t quite put my finger on what that thing was.

First, I pushed this feeling away. Then, it only became more present and undeniable.

Does this sound familiar?

This is painfully normal. Standard procedure. Something we all feel at some time or another.

That starting point that motivates me, you or anyone, to take a leap of faith in our career comes from the uncertainty we all face at some time in life.

It wasn’t always that way for me. I used to have what felt like a robust, empowered bond with work. I knew what that was and I knew I must regain that again.

So, this is where the story gets interesting. I made the tough decision to (at least for the time being) walk away from my business.

I needed to fully redirect my effort toward:

1.      Changing the course of my life

2.      How I made a living.

3.      Mending the relationship with my life’s work

It’s funny how things can come full circle. It was the same, somewhat reckless, touch-and-go nature of starting a business that allowed me to walk away after a dozen years.

You can probably relate to me at this point. We’ve all fantasized what it would feel like to quit, walk away and start a new chapter. Let me share how that played out for me.

There were 4 major takeaway lessons I was unexpectedly confronted with that ultimately transformed the trajectory of my life this past year.

Lesson #1

Your job is likely a symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself.

Or put more bluntly in my case…

It wasn’t really my job

Embarrassingly I had this belief that once I dropped the dead weight of an uninspired job, I would be suddenly rejuvenated. I would be remotivated. I would miraculously be bestowed with a new golden age.

Okay… That didn’t happen.

Much like a surgeon extracts a tumor, we like simple solution to isolate and remove a problem. However, the key to meaningful and lasting change is seemingly always addressed at the root.

Your career must become healthy the way it becomes unwell.

It’s a gradual up and down process and it takes time.

In running a business, my efforts were always consumed with the challenging tasks, duties and responsibilities that go with it. But as the years progressed the reward of new challenges and growth disappeared. Yet the difficulty and burden of those daily commitments remained.

As a result, I withdrew. Even as I tried to conjure up new excitement I was checked out.

The positive pivot out of this was when I could embrace new challenges in my life (more on this later). By proactively welcoming new growth, I reignited hope for the fresh possibilities at my feet.

Lesson #2

Be more Zen, it’s a marathon not a sprint

“Relax Andrew” I would (and still) remind myself. Only to forget and clam up.

I tend to have an operating state that’s wound tight. When it comes to work, it feels normal to beat myself into submission rather than be my own friend.

Here’s why that doesn’t work…

We always underestimate the time it takes to:

• Learn a new skill
• Make a significant life change
• Complete a large project

A tightly wound or frantic state of mind is desperate for a quick fix.

It can often feel like there’s a time crunch or a “shot clock” working against you in life. Maybe this helps those who lack motivation or direction. But from my own experience this mind frame just strips you of joy, peace and gratitude.

Without those, what are we going for?

When it came to changing the trajectory in my own career, I had to ask myself, “do you want a quick band-aid fix? Or meaningful, lasting change?”

Foundational change in your career is not in a job title. It’s in the lived experience that’s acquired through a career transition journey. This is what holds the key. It’s the entire spectrum of life circumstances or “moving parts” that surround the way you earn a living that also must shift.

You must live the change.

So, in the meantime…

Exhale… Stick with it. You’re doing great.

Lesson #3

You don’t know yet what you don’t know

Think of the wonderment of a young child. Curious. Unassuming. Without arrogance.

This is the frame of mind that allows us to learn and embrace new opportunities. As adults we call this “being humble” and it’s the price of entry when pivoting to a new field.

It’s also a very fearful place if you’re used to certainty, predictability and job status. You might find that your “defenses” go up when you encounter this scary place. Mine certainly did.

Going into a career leap, there will be things that you couldn’t possibly know until you are inevitably confronted with them.

When this happens rather than ducking, dodging or denying it, allow yourself to be the newbie (I know… easier said than done).

I’ve come to learn that this isn’t just an unfortunate place to be in but an important and necessary one. More significant than realizing what you don’t know is in adjusting to the state of learning mindedness.

Allow yourself to be humbly receptive to new knowledge. This can be your superpower in a world of stubbornness.

Express that childlike wonder again!

Lesson #4

Your career change has a life of its own

A job or career transition is never going to be a straight A to B shot. Even if you want it to be.

I’ve learned that sometimes you must willingly get lost to find the way.

Go ahead. Dive down a rabbit hole!

You might start with a vision. You’re going to have an idea of how you want it to go. You’re going to try things. Then, reality offers a new perspective that your theoretical plans never could.

Wonderful!

During the past year:

• I renovated my kitchen and developed a new passion for that type of work (something I’d never done before)
• We sold our town home and moved to a new city
• Then, I took my newfound passion and started a renovation project doing a full basement development

Here I am mid reno. working on installing a shower.

None of this was planned or even an inkling of a thought 12 months ago. It just surfaced organically and was something I was intuitively guided to “lean into.”

It was as though stepping away from my business had vacated space for new exciting happenings to unfold. My time and efforts that so long were previously tied up, could now be freed for new inspiration.

Your life is an interconnected fabric where everything is joined. You make a significant life change in one area, and it’ll have an impact downstream on everything else.

Let it happen! Let it go as effortlessly as a river wants to flow.

Sometimes we all need to get out of our own way.

It is my belief that as life unfolds as it needs to, you will ultimately end up where you’re supposed to.