Your career - are you following your passion?

​Is work feeding your passion?

January. It's that time of year when you may dread returning to work after an extended Christmas break. You are not alone. According to a recent Gallup poll, over 80 per cent of workers hate their jobs. That means for every 10 people in your organisation, 8 would rather be elsewhere. Isn't that a very sad thought?

Many of my clients come to me about career issues: stress, dealing with tricky colleagues, how to be promoted, what to do if they downsize their career, what else can they do instead.
Often, they have felt demotivated or stressed for years and come to me when they have reached breaking point: their health deteriorates, their relationships suffer, they are depressed.

My role is to help clients find something they enjoy doing better or to enable to them to adapt their thinking so they are more content in their current career.

The Negative Mindset
The trouble with career change is that it's easy to fall into a negative mindset.

• I'm too old
• Underqualified
• Can't afford to change
• No one would want me

When I've challenged their beliefs they are often without foundation:

• Who says you are too old?
• Can you gain more qualifications?
• Can you retrain alongside your current job (distance learning or part time)?
• How do you know no one would want you?

Later Retirement
A recent example is a high flyer in his early 60s who has used Teach First to get into teaching from commerce. At a time when many teachers are hanging up the chalk - or the white board marker - he's starting in the profession, ready for a new challenge.

It's becoming increasingly common to change careers two or more times in a lifetime. Retirement ages have risen to 67 and it's predicted it will rise soon to 70. Is it realistic to want to do the same work you chose at 18? For some people, who have a true vocation, yes. For many, no. The perception of a 'job for life' has changed.

So what is YOUR passion? What would you rather do? Have you heard yourself say 'I wish I could have been X.' 

It's rarely too late. Ok, let's get some realism in here. Some careers will be closed because of the length of training involved, or maybe they demand top physical fitness. But if you are anywhere from 40 to 50 and want to completely retrain, with another 15 or 20 years of working life left, what's stopping you? 

My advice to my clients is:
Start exploring.

• Look at the training you'd need, visit universities if applicable, have a chat with admissions tutors (who often welcome mature students with open arms)
• Explore career change grants and loans. 
• Look at part time study you can combine with your current work. 
• Volunteer or shadow someone in a role so you get some experience of what it's like.
• Go freelance: start on your own and develop your business.
• Start saving so you can do the above.
• Ask your employer for a sabbatical so you can re-assess your direction.
• Network with other people doing what you want to do; join groups on social media so you talk to others in those careers.

Results!
I've had clients do ALL of the above. They've found their passion and never looked back.

What's stopping YOU?
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If you need some help to get started, get in touch. www.glyniskozmacoaching.com