As kids are going through High School, they are being asked to make some very important decisions that can impact their entire life. They are being asked to choose a career path. The choice they may can impact the classes they take in High School, the Colleges they apply to, and even whether they go to college. It is a huge decision to make at such a young age, and while some people feel really passionate about what they want to do with their lives, most High School aged kids do not have the life experience to be able to make that decision.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the average person will have six or seven different careers in their life. A 2019 study showed that only 27% of people actually work in a field related to their major in college.
We have seen many people who have spent many years in graduate school earning advanced degrees, such as Law Degrees or PhDs and even MDs who either no longer work, or never worked in the field in which they studied.
Many people feel that if they spend so much time and money to earn a degree, they must remain in their field. There really are few things worse than having to commit a significant portion of your life to career that you have no passion for.
As we noted, the average person goes through six or seven careers in their life. For those who are not quite show how to make the move to a new career, there are several steps you can take to make your new dream a reality.
They first thing is that you need to change your mindset. How we think is a major part of knowing we can make a major change in our life or remaining in a job that gives you no satisfaction even if it pays well. Once you commit to the idea that you can make a change, then it becomes much easier when you are ready to make the change.
Once you make the decision that it is okay to be happy and make a major change to your life, you have to know what it is you want to do. Making a change for the sake of change can be good for a short term boost to your own morale, but if you move from one are you don’t care about to another area you don’t care about, in the long run, you are not better off than you had been. What is your passion? What is it that you want to be a part of?
When you realize what it is, then you have to go out there and get the knowledge needed to be able to turn a passion into a career that will pay. You aren’t choosing a hobby, you are choosing a path that will need to be able to support you and your family. If you are going to make a change, you have to be prepared.
If you are moving from a career that has a decent paycheck to a new career, you have to be prepared to budget for your new career if you believe you will be taking a cut in salary. There are realities in life, and if you have a family and other major responsibilities, you have to be prepared for the transition.
Once you have the education and financial matters in place, you are ready to get out there to start making connections in your new chosen field. You can start informally with social media groups, then move into professional organizations. Once you have everything in place, you are ready to make the jump. It is never easy to make a major change in your life, but when you make a change that you know if right for you, then your overall outlook becomes much nicer and ultimately, you will be much happier.
