Midlife Career Change

A.A. Milne

Midlife Career Change: Second Careers, Second Chances

Welcome to another defining moment in your life.

I think you and I would agree that the 40s are a great time to take stock, a time of looking back and looking forward. You've made it past the hormone-charged uncertainty of adolescence, graduated, changed jobs, maybe got married and started a family.

You've had time to reflect on your career choices of the past 15 or 20 years.

How do you feel about your choices?

Do you feel you have come far?

Are you glad at what you have achieved?

Or are you regretting the things that you did or failed to do?

No one is immune to the consequences of poor decision making or the biases that influence the decision making process. We all could do with a bit of help when it comes to improving our decision making skills and confidence.

Our subconscious desire to please others and to gain their approval can be so subtle and powerful that we make choices that seem rational and acceptable, at least on the surface. But on closer examination, we find that they have cost us a slice of our true selves.

If past decisions or fear are holding you hostage to the status quo, could a career change be your pathway to a more fulfilling and productive life after 40?

Midlife Career Change: The Next Step

To reach your own answer, here are some tips based on questions my clients and I found useful when working through career change issues.

• Your life situation has changed.

For example, your family may have relocated to another country and you now find yourself in the position of starting over in a new career, or taking a break from the workforce.

How is this transition affecting your ability to find work that fits with your lifestyle, commitments, values and ethics?

• You are demotivated and unhappy at work and think you may be in the wrong career.

  What do you plan to do about it?

• You are happy in your profession but want a position with a better job fit.

  How will you go about making that mid-career change?

• If you believe the key to a new career lies in upgrading your current job skills to 21st century skills, or using existing skills in new ways, how much time and money are you willing to invest to make it happen?

These are great questions to think through and you might want to come up with your own list, depending on your situation.

Is That All To Midlife Career Change?

No, it isn't.

Merely wanting something is not enough. It's just the start. You have to do more if you want to achieve more than what you now have.

You have to put Power into your thoughts, combine right Action with right Intention, and throw all your Heart into what your brain and intuition are telling you is the right course to take.

It's not easy.

But it's worth it.

Don't allow yourself to stay stuck just because you think it is too late or too hard to change.

If it's worth it, fight for it! It is never too late.

Your career story doesn't end until The End.

It is continually evolving, and you have a say in what happens next.

You have the power to change what happens tomorrow by making the career choices that are right for you today.

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