How to Change Careers Part 5

[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNevguSsr6U[/svp]
This is the next video my series about changing careers. I’m sure this is not what you would’ve expected.

 

[spp-transcript]

This is part 5 in my series of how to change careers. It is a little atypical and I’m going to start off the story about myself.

After a while, I started to realize how conditioned I had been to think in certain ways and do certain things. From the time I got into school as a little kid until the time I graduated, the system was conditioning me to think in certain ways and do certain things.

The classic thing is being brought to school as a little kid and learning that what you are supposed to do is shut up, do what you’re told, regurgitate a bunch of things or else you will get into a good college. Eventually, you get into the college and you get the message that you’re supposed to shut up, do what you told, regurgitate a bunch of things or else he will get a good job.

The habit that I was conditioned into was to take direction, do what I was told (What a surprise! I’ve been told this since I was little and the message got through.), not thinking for myself in some ways about what would make me happy.

I got pushed through the system and,, I want to be clear, I got a lot of good stuff out of it, but my heart’s passion has it been the kind of work that I’ve done for so many years and what I had been conditioned to do.

As part of this exercise that eventually led me to coaching, I start to think, “Let’s go crazy!  Tell me some unrealistic things I might try to do.

That’s what the next homework assignment is going to be.  Be unrealistic.  Write down a few things for yourself that in no way, shape or form. Do you think you could possibly do.  

This is part of a liberation process because often the conditioning that you have received causes you to think small in self-limiting ways.  Once you start thinking about it, you might actually be able to do some of them.  It might take some practice and you might not be an expert.  The 1st time you do it.  You might need to get training but it is the sort of thing, that when you were a little might of love doing, but discovered that you weren’t a good enough pitcher to pitch for the Yankees.

Don’t worry if it’s realistic.  Think while. Go crazy!  Write down the sort of things that if your friends heard about it, they might tease you.  Remember, these are true for you and the reaction is their “stuff.”  Don’t let their opinions rule your life right now.  You are trying to figure out what is going to excite you in your life right now and ignite your passion and your career.  That’s the most important thing right now.

Maybe it’s something that you did when you were little.  I have a friend who decided he wanted to run a scuba business in the Bahamas.  He left his job to do scuba.  Maybe that’s your thing.  Just write down 3 things (and if you write down 5 or 10 or 50, that’s. Even better).

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”