Career Myth No. 5-“What’s the best thing for me to do?”

This is one of the most frequent questions asked by clients when considering a career change or a career move. It seems like a logical analysis, but don’t be fooled.
Do not ask yourself this question! It rarely leads you to the job or answers you are seeking. It will lead you to feeling overwhelmed with options, or feeling like you have to choose what’s practical over what seems to be impractical.

The question that will lead you to answers is simple (but not necessarily easy!) It is , “What do I really want to do?” This is a very different question to “what’s best?”

Career Myth No. 4-If you don’t like your job you are probably in the wrong career:

One way to tell if you are in the right career is whether or not you like your job. Now I know we ALL have bad days when we are stressed and we hate everybody and everything around us. I am not talking about those isolated days. I am talking about a constant feeling of dissatisfaction. This feeling is usually a sign that you need to re-examine your whole career choice. This is something I frequently hear from coaching clients who have decided to work with me. They know something isn’t right because they don’t like their jobs. In fact they usually hate their jobs. Their natural assumption is that their unhappiness is a consequence of a larger underlying issue...........their choice of career.

This is a clear case of false logic. Not liking your job might be telling you you’re in the wrong job. It doesn’t necessarily mean you are in the wrong career. Let's not forget they are two different things. You could just be working for the wrong person or the wrong company. It really takes a skillful approach to discern the source of your discontent, and it usually is very hard to do without the help of someone independent (sorry for the shameless plug for all Career Coaches)

Career Myth 3 - Always have a back-up plan:

OK, here goes. Another career myth for you; a further myth that stops people living the life they really want to live.

Sometimes having a back-up plan is a smart and prudent course of action. They seem smart and grown-up and responsible. But what happens when you’re standing with one foot in and one foot out? In my experience, we usually close the door and retreat. We become reluctant to commit ourselves and then we end up denying ourselves what we really want. Even worst we end up with feelings of regret and those damn nagging questions of “what if?”. (These questions really kill me and I avoid them at all cost).

I think back-up plans diffuse our energy, and diffused energy diffuses results. Give all that you’ve got to your passion, your dream, your risk
and you’ve got a better chance of being successful.

Career Myth 2 - changing careers is risky!

What’s riskier than leaving what you know to pursue the unknown? Changing careers means leaving behind a piece of your identity-your “I’m a lawyer” response to the dinner-party question, “what do you do?” It might also means admiting to yourself that you made a mistake with an initial career choice. Or it might mean acknowledging that you’re unsure of what’s next, and lets face it, smart people are always supposed to know what’s next, right?
Absolutely not!!!!
Successful career changers often don’t know or have a plan. Sometimes waiting until you actually have a plan can be riskier than just “sucking and see”.

I love this quote from Kathy Cordova’s books ‘Let Go, Let Miracles Happen’- “If you want to make God laugh, make a plan......”

Nothing, absolutely nothing is riskier than not changing careers if you’re longing to do so. Here’s why: The longing just will not go away no matter how hard you try and push it to the back of your mind. It will always be there, bubbling away under the surface, waiting for you to do something about it. And there is nothing worse than the thought years later of “I wonder if...........”