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Changing Careers
Follow Your Heart, but Don't Lose Your Head

by Heather Mundell, CPC

At the beginning of our work together, Justine said to me, "I know I don't want to keep doing this job forever, but what I'm interested in just doesn't seem realistic." Maybe you can relate to Justine, an educated professional woman in her early forties, who feels daunted by the idea of changing careers. "Not only does looking for different work seem overwhelming," she added, "but just getting to the point of narrowing down some different options is more than I can manage right now."

In my work as a life coach I talk every day with people who dream of loving what they do. The problem is that they have several ideas about different careers and don't know how to begin pursuing any one of them. They need a process for exploring their options.

Career exploration is partly following your intuition and partly having a system. You need to listen to what your gut is telling you to a certain degree, yet analyze your options and roadblocks objectively. You must listen to both your heart and your head.

The following is a six-step plan to narrow your list of career options and decide which one to explore first.

1. Define your career categories.

If you have a collection of articles you've pulled, brochures you've collected and notes you've scribbled, get them all in one place. If all of your ideas are in your head, write them down. Don't worry if they're realistic or not - just capture the ideas.

Separate your materials and lists into categories. They may be broad, such as "marketing," or more narrow, such as "elementary school teacher." The object is to separate the ideas into groups that make sense to you.

2. Choose one category to address while you temporarily shelve the others.

Part of the challenge you've been facing is feeling overwhelmed by too many possibilities at once. Now that you have separated your ideas into categories, you can address them one at a time and focus on each in more depth.

3. Ask yourself thought-provoking questions about the career category you chose and record your honest answers in a notebook.

This is your opportunity to discover what is compelling, frightening, realistic and far-fetched about this career area. When you clarify your thoughts in writing you create a document you can refer to and edit repeatedly during your career exploration.

Here are some examples of questions to consider:

What interests me about this career category?
What have I been telling myself about it?
What skills, talents and experiences do I have that are relevant to this career category?
What experiences and knowledge do I need more of to pursue a career in this area?
What would be the rewards and challenges to me of a career in this area?
What more do I want to know about this career category?
On a scale of 1 through 5, how excited am I about this area (1 = unexcited,
3 = uncertain, 5 = excited)?

4. Repeat this question and answer process with each of your career categories.

Try not to compare notes with categories you wrote about earlier. Give each one a fair chance on its own.

5. Assess your responses and do a gut check.

Now look across your thoughts about each category and compare them. What common themes do you see? Maybe it's working with groups of people, or in a certain industry such as high tech, or maybe you're drawn to entrepreneurial opportunities. Is there a category that is clearly more compelling than the others? You may have rated only one category a 5, or you may be more drawn to the challenges of one category than the rewards of another. Are there categories that are "pipe dreams" and others that are more realistic? You might have to think more about your gut response to risk versus safety.

6. Select one career category to pursue further and commit to setting the others aside for now.

You've recorded your thoughts about several career areas and can always return to them later. By temporarily narrowing your focus you can more easily organize your research and self-assessment process. If you have very limited time during the week to devote to planning for your next career, this can help you feel less scattered and more purposeful.

My client, Justine, followed this plan and after a few months it became clear what career area was most exciting to her. With that clarity she found it much easier to make specific plans for a significant career transition. She listened to her intuition while she followed a systematic process and consequently transformed an overwhelming task into a compelling vision for her future. By listening to both your heart and your head during this process, you can do the same.