Three Basic Steps to Career Reinvention

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your career

Just read an article in the paper that talked about reinventing yourself in your career.  It was one of those employment advice columns, and the person asking the question basically stated that it’s not only difficult to start over when you are over forty, but it’s ridiculous.

I know what you’re thinking; someone actually reads a real newspaper?   Now that’s ridiculous.

Seriously, as someone who has reinvented herself several times during the course of my career, I think statements like this are ridiculous.  In my opinion, the person writing the question seems to be enjoying a pity-party. Hope they are having fun.

Let me share some of the different points brought up in the question:

–  Motivational speakers talk as if it’s “nothing” to follow your passion

–  Workers who were raised to follow the career paths they were told to follow or do what their parents did with jobs that offered security above everything else now find their long-term security threatened

–  When you’ve got umpteen years in the same field, no matter what kind, it’s not easy to reinvent yourself

–  How does one even find their passion to begin with

As a motivational speaker myself, not only am I offended but I would never say it’s “nothing” to follow your dreams.  After all, this is my passion, and I figured out how to do it.

Anything worth having takes energy, time and determination.  For me, even college took everything I had to make it to graduation.  But if you’re not willing to put in the effort, you’re going to be stuck in the same place.

Career reinvention at any age can be difficult, yet it’s definitely possible.  When it comes down to it, there are three basic steps:

  1. Figure out what it is you want to do.
  2. Figure out how to do it
  3. Just do it

Sounds too simple, right? 

You’re thinking, “I just wasted time to read a bunch of crazy talk”. Let me assure you that I have not lost my mind and I’m not just making this stuff up.  I’ve reinvented myself at least three times during my career; here are the biggies:

–          Engineering to retail buying

–          Retail buying to marketing

–          Marketing to public relations

–          Public relations to author and speaker

And this doesn’t count all the minor reinventions within each of those careers.

I get it. Really, I do.  It’s hard.  I can hear you saying, “But you don’t understand; you’re not in my shoes”. I agree – I’m not in your shoes.

Here’s a look at my shoes:  Hubby and I were both laid-off within one year.  Both of us are considered to be “older” workers – you know, in a “protected class” in HR terms.  We have a mortgage and other expenses, and neither of us comes from a wealthy family who could possibly lend a financial hand.

Guess what?  Both of us found ways to make money at jobs we enjoyed. I discovered a new passion and found employment that leveraged not only this passion but my career experience.

So how is it possible to successfully reinvent yourself in your career?  It’s a bit different for everyone but here are some key points that I’ve learned about this process.

  • You have to be open to new opportunities as they present themselves.  Don’t “pooh-pooh” something without hearing more about it.
  • You have to be willing to be uncomfortable.  Trying something new brings a certain level of discomfort.  Embrace it.
  • You may have to be willing to accept a lower title and/or less money.  We all have to start somewhere.
  • You may have to work at something that’s not your dream job while you figure out how to pursue your passion.
  • Don’t have a passion yet?  Take up a hobby, enroll in a class, do volunteer work or take a part-time job in a field of interest to see if anything clicks.
  • Listen to yourself and try not to be influenced by well-meaning friends and family. This is your career; not theirs.

Again, I’m not saying that it’s easy to reinvent yourself.  If finding a new career opportunity or discovering your passion was as simple as donning ruby red slippers, clicking your heels and stating, “Find my passion; find my passion”, don’t you think everyone would be doing it?

But I can say with absolute certainty that it’s possible.  And the rewards are great.

I’m sure I’ll be revisiting this topic again here on my blog.  Stay tuned. As usual, I’ve got lots to say.

Vacation Brain

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Scottsdale 2013

Ahhh…vacation!  The time to get away from it all. To refresh and re-energize.  Yep, I’m one of “those people”, the kind who believes in taking a true vacation to get away from everything for a week.  No checking email, no calling the office.  I tell the people I work with, “If the building burns, save yourself and tell me about it when I get back”.  No sense telling me when I’m not there to do anything about it.

Never have understood the concept of a “working vacation” either – isn’t that an oxymoron?  If I’m going to spend the money for a vacation I want to enjoy it – sans work.

Funny thing is that my family didn’t really take vacations.  A couple times we accompanied dad on a business trip to Florida; along the way we’d wait for him in the car or at a restaurant while he called on clients, eventually ending up at the beach for a couple days.  Every few years Sis and I would go to Grandma’s in Minnesota, but that was it.  No weekends at the lake, no ski vacations, no trips just for fun.

I learned about the beauty of a vacation after business school, when I had friends living in other cities.  Those friends would say, “Come visit sometime”, and whether they meant it or not I took them up on the offer.  Note to all of you: if you say “come visit”, know that at some point I will do just that.

It wasn’t always easy for me to take a vacation.  I was (and sometimes still am) plagued by worries: what if something “big” happens while I’m gone? What if someone needs me? What if, what if, what if?

Early on I had a great boss who heard me lamenting the “what ifs” and wisely told me, “there is NOTHING that will happen in your absence that we can’t fix when you get back”.   Logic told me she was right and I’ve tried to remember that ever since.

Last week was it – vacation time!  An entire week of fun at our favorite resort with no work in sight, and it was beyond great.  Vacation Brain kicked in for both Hubby and I as soon as we left for the airport, a definite signal that it was time to relax. We read, talked, swam, lounged and were generally lazy.  Work Brain was nowhere to be seen, as it should be during vacation.

As with all good things, our trip came to an end far too soon and my Vacation Brain reluctantly started powering down while my Work Brain tried to wake from a nice nap.  At the airport, Work Brain said it would be a good idea to download my emails so I could at least scan them on the plane.  Sounded logical, so I tried to log-on.  Note I said “tried” – for the life of me I couldn’t remember my log-in info.  Vacation Brain clearly was still in command.  After some time, I finally remembered and logged in – a small victory for Work Brain.

Hubby was having difficulty too.  Wanting to initiate a call with a co-worker, he started to send an email with his cell phone number – but Vacation Brain forbade him from remembering his own number. Work Brain, unfortunately, reminded him that I had his phone number in my phone.

Once I was online, Work Brain commanded that I look at my in-box. Yikes! How could one person have that many emails in just a week?

My mind raced as Vacation Brain was desperate to keep me in resort mode.  Looking at the subject lines, I tried to recall what I was working on when I left town.  My mind was sputtering, with a vague memory of some projects but not enough for the emails to make complete sense.

And who ARE all these people, wanting answers from me?  Do I work with them?  I could feel the tension in my head as Work Brain fought to recover information from a week ago, while Vacation Brain attempted to keep all that information hidden.  Back and forth, the battle for control raged in my head as I read the emails, trying to make sense of it all.  Once the plane landed, Work Brain started a victory dance, knowing that as soon as we exited the jet way Vacation Brain was history.

Sigh. Why is it always like this? Within seconds of returning from vacation, it’s as though we never left at all.  I enjoy my work but I really do cherish the little bit of vacation I take and I would love for the feeling to last longer than a nanosecond.

Good news is the office didn’t burn.  At least I don’t think it did.

Working Distractions

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Is it just me or is anyone else finding it hard to concentrate anymore, especially when it comes to work?  I am more easily distracted than I once was and it’s annoying.   What’s worse is that I seem to be busier than ever yet accomplishing the same, or even less.   I refuse to believe that this has anything to do with age; everyone knows I’m 29 and holding.

I’ve tried all sorts of techniques to help me stay focused: diverting my eyes from the computer, getting up from the desk for a walk or stretch, making a to-do list, scheduling work on my calendar with sound notifications, etc.  I’ve even asked Hubby to gently remind me to stay on course if he sees me sidetracked when I’m working at home.

So how are these tactics working?  Not very well.

  • Diversions –Used to be that I could simply close my eyes or look away from the computer screen for a minute and I would regain focus.  I still use this technique; it’s just that I become re-focused on my smart phone with such things as solitaire, checking other email accounts or looking at  Facebook  to read riveting news updates like “having bologna for lunch today”. This of course leads to numerous comments on my part as well as providing my own riveting update. Talk about a time-suck. Thirty minutes later and I need to be diverted from this diversion.

 

  • Stretching – Sitting is a necessary evil. Gotta do it at work, since my desk is too low to use my computer while standing.  Yet sitting makes me tired (go figure) so I try to get up and stretch or at least walk around periodically.  Didn’t seem like an issue until I decided to get my blood flowing with some in-office yoga. My “downward dog” seemed like a good idea at the time, until I looked up to find a colleague pushing my door open to ask a question.  Awkward.

 

  • Lists – “Make a list and stick with it”, everyone said.  “It’s so easy”.  Okay, I’ve got a list.  Actually, I keep making lists. They are everywhere – on my desk, in my purse, next to my bed, on the refrigerator, on post-it notes. You name it; I have it on a list.  And the list just keeps growing with all sorts of ideas, plans and work. Oh, wait – you mean at some point I’m actually supposed to follow these lists and check something off?  Silly me.

 

  • Calendars – I schedule my work as though it were a meeting. The calendar “pings” an alert to keep me on track.  It’s just that I’m so far off the track that I ignore the pings.  Hey, I think this may actually be a distraction instead.  All I’m doing is making lists.

 

  • Hubby – My dear, sweet Hubby. He took this assignment very seriously, standing over me, tapping his watch, telling me to focus on the task at hand.  Turns out it was Hubby who gained focus.  Sleeping on the couch does that to a person.  Poor Hubby.

 

Anyone have better suggestions?