March 26th, 2007
Career Transition - Step 4
Managing your career change on top of a full-time work load and personal responsibilities.
One of the biggest challenges my clients face is implementing their career transition strategy while managing a full-time work load and personal responsibilities.
Of course, this challenge can feel quite overwhelming. Unfortunately, it prevents many women from even starting the process of launching a career transition - leaving them stuck in the wrong job and the wrong career.
Orchestrating a career change while working full-time and managing your home life is indeed very challenging. The good news is that it is also very doable.
I help women hit this challenge head-on in my “Discover Your Authentic Career Fit” program. We break the process down into simply organized and manageable action steps.
This month, I cover four steps to help you cope during your career transition. This week, we’ll focus on step number four: Monster Management.
Monster Management
Effectively making a career transition requires effective fear management. What do I mean by fear management?
Every woman I’ve ever helped make a career change had at least one significant fear to deal with. Common fears of the job seeker include:
• Fear of Rejection
• Fear of Failure
• Fear of Success
• Fear of Scarcity
At some point during your career transition, you’re going to have to give yourself a psychological wake up call that will dismantle your fears. This involves naming the fear for what it is. This essentially means shining a light on that pesky monster and forcing it out of the shadows.
For example, let’s look at Kate’s story. She was fearful of not finding a job that paid as much as her current position. This fear was preventing her from even taking baby steps with her job search. When we identified the fear – fear of scarcity – she was able to see that it wasn’t based on any fact. She had actually been offered other jobs in the past year at a rate higher than her current salary. Also, in that coaching session she realized that even if she receives a job offer in her new field that doesn’t meet her salary requirements, she is free to turn that offer down and keep looking.
When you find yourself avoiding your job search activities, ask yourself the following powerful questions:
What am I afraid of?
What’s the worst that can happen?
When you name the fear and see it for what it truly is - merely a roadblock you can circumnavigate - it loses power over you.
Now your head is free and clear to focus on moving forward! Ahhh, doesn’t that feel better?
Until next month…
Maret
