The one thing I lacked that would have shaved years off my career change (plus at least £120k of career change costs)
8 or 9 years ago, I first noticed a slow, dripping tap of career dissatisfaction. But it took me years to figure out the one thing I lacked which would enable me to fix it - and save lots of money and painful, wasted energy at the same time.
If I’d invested time and energy (or paid someone to help me) with this one thing, I could have turned off my slow, dripping tap of career dissatisfaction years earlier.
The dripping tap numbed my wins and my losses.
Flattened my fun.
And coloured my days slightly grey.
But I shoved the fear of big change around next year’s corner.
A prison of my own making
The career I’d gifted 20 years of my youth to, had morphed into a prison of my own making. From this prison, my window of opportunity felt like it was shrinking the closer I aged towards 50.
I’d worked hard. And saved hard. Maybe even enough for a great escape - but not without a plan.
Plan A was definitely fading.
To be frank, so was I.
Another year passed but no plan magically materialised. Because I still had no idea where to start.
Escaping from my self-made, comfortable career prison took me about 4 years but it shouldn’t have.
A leap that nearly broke me
When the dripping tap switched to full flow, I jumped from Plan A without a parachute, of any colour. And crash-landed at university, trying to master psychology.
Far from a soft landing, it was the hardest year of my life!
Not kidding.
The wrinkles on my brain and my face slowed my learning.
I donated every ounce of energy to getting great marks - all the time believing I was on the brink of failure. I did well and felt proud, for two minutes, before the fog of reality returned.
I STILL had no Plan B to go forth with.
And STILL didn’t know how to start one.
I STILL didn’t know anyone who had one - or one that excited them.
STILL didn’t know where to start figuring out what I’d be good at, or (whisper) maybe even great at.
I STILL didn’t know how to get paid to do work that I might love.
But mostly, I STARTED to wonder if I might look back on my career with regret asking “What if?”
The unusual question that changed everything
Then, I whispered to myself a tough question:
“How am I going to live a life, with the freedom to do work that makes me feel great AND work that matters so much I get invited onto BBC1 Desert Island Discs? (My little obsession)
That’s how I knew I still had hope.
I just needed my Plan B. A bloody great one!
As an important aside, at this point, my lack of Plan B had cost me over £100,000 in salary and about £20,000 of my savings invested in going back to university.
So I put my newfound research skills to the test and scoured the globe to learn everything possible about career change.
It took a while but I created a career change methodology to design bespoke Plan Bs. Plan Bs for individuals, like me, who’ve got plenty left in the tank and don’t want to waste another minute wondering.
Plan Bs designed around personality and unique talents, combined with lifestyle and freedom desires.
I designed and implemented my own Plan B - doing work that’s fun and that matters. To me and others.
In case you’re wondering, I’m quite a way off being invited onto Desert Island Discs! BUT I’m a heck of a lot closer than I was 7 years ago.
5 years ago.
2 years ago.
Yesterday.
I’d love to help you design the work that will turn out to be THE BEST WORK OF YOUR ENTIRE CAREER.
Where to start:
Take the Boost your midlife joy-at-work quiz.
Check out my most popular and best value programme - The Fierce Emporium.
Overhaul your career in The Fierce Emporium and begin to design your work in a way that you might not want to stop!
