The 5 Minute Career Coach

Helping Career Changers Around The World

July 2013

What are you willing to change?

If you want things to be different in your life or your work, it is easy to look around you and see all the things that are getting in your way.  They are the causes of your problems.  ‘If only the world or other people were different then I could make that changes I need’ may be the refrain going round in your head.

So you sit and wait for something to shift ‘out there’ that will enable you to improve your lot. And you wait…and wait…and wait…

Are you still waiting…?

You could be waiting a long time.

What about the other way?

So what if you were to turn all that around and decide instead that you will be the one who makes the changes? What are you willing to change?

If you immediately feel yourself bristling slightly and thinking ‘why should I, it’s not my fault’ then maybe that is where to start.

Will you change your attitude to change and decide that you will take personal responsibility for creating a new future for yourself?

Where else could you make changes?

• Are you willing to change your attitude to your current work and instead of seeing all the problems, decide to focus on the good things?

• Are you willing to change the little voice that says ‘I haven’t got time to work out what new career I could pursue’ and decide that, if it is really so important  for you, you will just make that time?
• Are you willing to change your feelings about talking to strangers about what they do and begin instead to actively grow your network of contacts so that you can find out about alternative jobs and careers that interest you?

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  Are you willing to change your attitude to alternative ways of working so that you can begin to explore ideas such as freelancing, self employment, passive income streams etc. rather than just rejecting them out of hand?

• Are you willing to change the way you manage your money so that instead of telling yourself every day that you can’t afford to take the drop in salary that you are convinced will come with a career change and instead begin thinking ‘how can I afford it? What can I do to begin to build up my Escape Fund?’

• Are you willing to change who you listen to when you are talking about what you would like to do next in your life.  There will always be a plentiful supply of Nay Sayers who will always try to put you off.  But in fact they are just trying to keep you from doing what they would love to do but haven’t got the courage to do themselves.

• Are you willing to change your ‘head tape’ so that instead of listening to it list all the reasons you can’t take this bold step you will begin instead to ask ‘How can I make it happen? What do I need to do differently?”

• Are you willing to stop making excuses and start taking responsibility?

If you don’t, then nothing will change. End of.

For things to change for you, you have to change
Jim Rohn

Something to think about

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and
over and expecting a different result.”

 

Best Reads

Who Moved My Cheese

Spencer Johnson

This is a great little book which explores how different people approach changes that they find themselves confronted with in life.

Some will stick their heads in the sand and try to cling to the familiar, while others will embrace it and grow and adapt.

The message is simple and succinct – you have to be willing to adapt to change as it happens around you if you are to survive.  You might think you know this already – but are you really acting on this knowledge?

Written in the form of a parable, Who Moved My Cheese follows the adventures of Sniff and Scurry and contrasts them with Hem and Haw as they respond the changes in the maze they live in.

It provides an essential reminder that if you are stuck in a situation that is not working for you, get up and do something about it!

A short and easy read, this is the book to turn to every time you are finding change a struggle just to remind you that there is a way out.

With best wishes for your career change success

5MCC Back Issues from May 2012