3 Reasons you’re not changing careers and what you can do about it

Have you found yourself in a place where you drag yourself to work, go through the day and just KNOW that this isn’t it? Yet, you’re still here. It’s almost like you’re unable to make a move. Frozen on the spot. What is driving your hesitation to start making the change? Here are three common reasons and what you can do about them.

1: You’re not ENTIRELY sure what you want to do in life so you’re waiting to have it all figured out and THEN you’ll start doing something about it.

Sounds sensible, right? Not entirely. You may need to approach this in reverse. If you don’t know what you want in life – it’s through getting to know yourself that you’ll be able to truly transform your career. And that comes through actions. Small steps in doing something you enjoy will allow you to build your confidence up and eventually commit to a new path.

Are you thinking of starting a new business? In a new field? That’s great and the good news is you don’t have to quit your job straight away. Give yourself time and space to experiment, fill up your client lead list and make the jump once you have enough feedback. A more gradual approach will also give you space to make mistakes, get it wrong and very importantly – not to jump at the first opportunity because you really need the money.

2: You secretly know what you’d like to switch your careers to… but you really don’t think you can earn enough money doing it.

If you’re in a fairly high paying career right now and you’re feeling comfortable you may be thinking to yourself, “Sure I’ve always enjoyed organising parties but who on earth will pay me my lawyer money doing that? There is no way I can earn a decent income from it!”

Here is the deal – the amount of money you earn is in direct proportion to the value you give to the world. And you give the most value to the world through doing something that’s natural to you, something that’s easy and enjoyable for you. But a lot of us have been conditioned to feel like earning money = hard work. And that is a limiting belief.

If everyone around you is telling you that you’re great at organizing parties and they are all queueing up to get your advice on it – this is likely your clue. Give it a shot. See what comes of it.

A fulfilling career combines enjoyment from doing something that feels natural to you and getting paid for it. You can’t have one without the other.

3: You’re afraid of what others will think of you, or of not getting support when making the switch.

And this one is very common. The moment you think of shutting down your laptop and going out to buy cake supplies for your new business you hear your mother’s voice in your head telling you to get a proper job and that you’ll never make it selling cakes. And you’re terrified. That she’s right.

So you crave that support from others in order to make the switch. The good news is – you can get it.

Absolutely internalise those words of support that you wanted to hear from others and say them to yourself. In fact, if you truly want to follow your unique path – you have to be your own best supporter and a friend. And it doesn’t mean that others won’t support you along the way, it just means that your direction in life won’t depend on someone else. It’ll be a nice bonus, a cherry on the cake.