Inaugural Blog Post
By Lisa Silvershein, Certified Master Coach
www.arkcareercoaching.com
As I work with clients during all phases of their careers I frequently hear them sell themselves short. They send negative messages and create reasons why they can’t try a new career path, seek a desired job or move forward professionally.
“I just graduated and I don’t have as much experience as other people.”
“I have too much experience, companies only hire young people.”
“I’m too old to learn something new and make a career change.”
“Nobody will give me a chance because I don’t have the right experience.”
I can go on and on creating excuses that cause people to hold themselves back from doing what they REALLY want to do. Take a moment and think about the reason you haven’t tried to take action toward working in a job that makes you feel fulfilled and satisfied at the end of the day.
It is never too late to reflect upon your values, strengths and dreams that are deep in your heart. You may have pushed them aside because someone told you that you will never make enough money, it is too difficult to break into the field or it takes too long to learn the skills needed to be successful. If you ignore your dreams you will still wake up years from now wondering what might have happened if you had followed your dreams.
Consider how some people have taken charge of their careers and taken risks to do what makes them happy.
E.O. went to an Ivy League school and majored in business because her family encouraged her to work on Wall Street and make a lot of money. Her first job after graduation was with a top bank/brokerage house and she had an extremely generous starting salary. After one year she realized that she was stressed out all of the time and did not enjoy her job. She had to ask herself what was truly important to her, making a ton of money quickly or feeling fulfilled on a daily basis. She had always wanted to be a coach and teacher. After much reflection she decided to “disappoint” her family and became a teacher/coach.
K.H. was a Board Certified Physician in Emergency Medicine. She was the primary breadwinner and had two young children. She came to me when she realized that she disliked the field of emergency medicine. She enjoyed being a physician, but wanted to change her expertise. She took the plunge and decided to become Board Certified in Bariatric Medicine and ultimately opened her own medical weight loss business. The whole process took less than two years. She could have talked herself out of starting over and studying a new medical specialty, and opening her own business, but she decided to follow her dream.
H.B. was a college professor and musician. He enjoyed the creative freedom that his career provided, but after having his first child in his late forties he decided that he had more to give to the world. He became interested in becoming a doctor after taking his son for both sick and well visits to their family physician. He decided to take the MCATs, enrolled in medical school and graduated when he was fifty one years old. He will be the first to tell you that he would have turned fifty regardless of whether he had decided to pursue his dream, but he would have felt unfulfilled. By becoming a physician he is able to live his dream and work in his desired profession for ten to twenty years.
Career transitions and changes are rarely easy, but they are certainly possible.
It is important to:
1. Be strategic
2. Clearly define your goal
3. Surround yourself with supportive friends, family and professionals
4. Do your research and plot your strategy
5. Take it one step at a time
6. Keep your eye on your goal
Whether you are changing careers because you lost your job, your field of work is shrinking or you feel unsatisfied, you deserve to follow your dreams. Ark Career Coaching will support you and motivate you as you tackle your new career adventure!
As The 19th Century novelist George Eliot said, "It is never too late to be what you might have been."
As The 19th Century novelist George Eliot said, "It is never too late to be what you might have been."
