One Difficult Road - Conversation on Career Change

Making a career change is perhaps one of the most difficult roads to travel on your way towards aligning your life to your ability.  The asphalt is cold and wet with the tears of your frustration as you maneuver your way around obstacles such as potholes, construction barriers, and the seemingly endless line of other stalled out travelers.  The fumes of past failures and other unsuccessful alignment attempts creates a haze that distorts your vison, allowing doubt to cloud over your self-judgement and worth.  It’s a difficult task to stay focused, to stay moving forward, to resist the urge to pull off the road and park at a rest stop, or worse - to find an exit ramp and return to the safety and security of what was [you and your past life].   

I know this road is a difficult one to travel because it is one that I am currently idling down myself.  I left my previous job a month ago.  I had known for some time that I had outgrown my current track and that a change would have to be made soon.  I stayed in the parking lot of my prior position for much longer than I should have – fidgeting with my vehicle, polishing the paint, cleaning the windows, kicking the tires, revving the engine, and checking the oil; months and months of useless routines making sure my parked car was ready for the eventual ride -- a ride I had hoped in my heart would just be a short jaunt around the corner.  For self-growth, for sanity, for the sake of everything I had worked so hard to become, on December 5^th, I buckled myself in the driver’s seat and moved the gear shifter into Drive – notifying everyone that I was ready to depart towards a new destination.  On December 29^th, after carefully checking the traffic in both directions, I pulled out the parking lot and hit the open road headed towards my Opportunity.  

I started my pace out casually – a week set on cruise control just enjoying the scenery as it breezed by.  I applied to every dream job I stumbled across along the way, but no signs showed me nearing my destination [Opportunity].  I increased my speed, changed lanes, swerved around every pothole I could see, but the haze of doubt increased to match the additional fuel usage that often comes with erratic driving.  I began to choke on my choice of change, and through my rearview mirror I saw the familiar face of panic begin to manifest as a passenger in my backseat.  In a force of will, I flipped my mirror to night mode and focused only on the obstacles in front of me.  With the threat of the nay-sayer still taking form in my backseat, I turned on the radio and set my best playlist for repeat. 

Embedded in the music and the messages, I heard the voices of everyone who ever supported me through my many life changes – this one especially.  The sound was faint at first, hints and reminders of What I was working towards, Why I was on this road.  I turned the volume up and began to dispel the doubt that was clouding my car.  The reverberation of the music and the messages pulsed from the windshield to the steering wheel, into my hands, and eventually into my heart, giving my drive the renewed energy it so desperately needed.  

It’s been a full thirty days since I left my job, and I still don’t have another one in the works yet.  Once the reality of the depth and complexity involved in this phase of my alignment finally set in, I gained a better understanding of the effort and time that would be required of me to stay the course of this Change.  I realized that perhaps my time spent in the parking lot of my past position would have been better spent planning my course instead of simply and repeatedly preparing my car.  I should have spent a little more time focused on my map.  I should have moved my car -- driven around the building, practicing my cornering skills, instead of keeping my car parked in its place.  What I forgot to remember was that Change doesn’t have to be sudden, in fact – Change is typically more successful when planned (especially as an adult)!    

So, my advice to you is, before you make a Change [especially a career change] - Make a Plan!  Plan out your path.  Plan for your food, plan for your fuel, and plan for the bumps along the way.  Include a repair kit -- along with your itinerary, write out reminders and motivational remarks that will keep you focused on the road and moving forward towards your destination. Make a reminder of What You Want to achieve and Why You Want to achieve It.  Write yourself a letter.  Make a goal board.  Stick little Post-it reminders in all your favorite spots. It may sound simple, it may sound cheesy, but it may be exactly what you need to see to keep you focused and moving forward on your drive towards Opportunity.  Set your playlist.  Call your family.  Call your friends.  Let those who love and support you be a reminder of how awesome you are.          

Above all, make sure that whatever reminders you choose to have in place mirror the message that You are Worthy to be on the road!  You were once taught how to drive, but you were born to thrive!  

All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination. -- Earl Nightingale