Inspiration for Escaping Your Career

Are you stuck in a career?

Are you really stuck, or do you just feel stuck? And how do you know the difference?

Before dooming yourself to another decade of insurance underwriting (or whatever your current line of work may be) just because it's what you know, pick up Joshua Piven's The Escape Artists.

I read about this book in a post from Knowledge@WP Carey. Those of you who have been reading life@work for a while know that I am constantly looking for specific stories of people who have made successful and unlikely career changes.

This book is manna from heaven for me! And it may be for you, too.

Too many of us believe that career choices we make in our twenties create a stone path from which we may not deviate. Of course certain doors close as we make certain choices. Your career in professional baseball isn't going to happen. It may be too late for you to play the ingenue.

But people are figuring out ways to do something different. It may take a while, and it may take great sacrifice and mean big changes. It may not be easy at all.

Your particular career change trail may be for you alone to blaze. You might be out there with your machete, hacking away at the brush, wondering if you're going to see something worthwhile on the other side.

That's when you pick up this book. It features the stories of 10 "regular" people (i.e., not billionaires or celebrities) and their extraordinary career changes. All of them had passions that they turned into paychecks.

What do you wish you could get paid to do?

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

 

Comments

[celeste w, studio 501c]

Great post, Heather. I love your blog. Like you, I am interested in real, practical career-change examples.

[Chris Young]

Great post, Heather!

Been there... Done that!

I started out as a commodity trader - even got a master's degree in Economics to be the "best"!

I remember in college having to take an Industrial Organizational Psychology course. I hated every second of it. I studied strategy, finance, game theory, accounting, marketing, etc. I devoured books on these subject areas...

Today... I help organizations maximize possibility in their talent. It's strange how things come "full circle". I LOVE what I do now. I don't wish to be paid to do anything else...

Great post!
Chris Young
Founder, Daymaker
The Rainmaker Group
http://www.therainmakergroupinc.com
http://www.maximizepossibility.com

[Heather Mundell]

I love hearing from people who love what they do! Thanks for sharing your story.

[Jennifer Bartels]

That all sounds really good, but what about the people who are just trying to keep their electricity on and their kids in school?

Generally it's true that what you love will bring more financial rewards, but somebody needs to come up with some simple strategies for those who cannot just leave their jobs to follow their heart.

I am tired of hearing about the guy who didn't like what he was doing, so he just now writes books about how to change careers? I guess that's one way to change careers, but for the bulk of the population there are more practical concerns.

J

[Heather Mundell]

Jennifer,

Absolutely, very few of us can just up and leave our jobs to follow our hearts. And for those of us living paycheck to paycheck, or not even that and are racking up debt, we have extra pressure to focus on bringing in money. That may mean holding several jobs, or jobs we don't enjoy.

Many of my clients spend a long time laying foundations before making any job change at all. Some moonlight, some work while going to school, some volunteer and gradually build connections to get them into the work they really want to shift into.

Some life stages lend themselves better to this work. Parents of a newborn, adults with ill parents, or people going through other major life transitions or upheaval are overwhelmed enough with those issues. Career enhancement and career change aren't at the top of their lists as a rule.

Every step of the way, the practical concerns affected by our work have to be addressed.

What I especially appreciate are stories of regular people who do work they enjoy. They help inspire dreaming and creative thinking in the rest of us - which are activities that are absolutely free.