You want to change careers.  You just aren’t happy in your current job and you know that you need to change.  You come up with a plan and you go after it, guns a blazing.

You are feeling the high, the "you got this",  you are so in the zone and nothing, I mean nothing is going to get in the way.

Until something does.  Life gets busy, the search gets real hard, you are constantly rejected or even worse, you don't hear anything.  Your momentum slows to a snails pace, maybe even halting all together.

Time passes, maybe a few months, maybe a few years and then all of a sudden you have this burning urge.  This urge to change careers.  You just aren't happy in your current job and you know that you need to change.  You come up with a plan and ... wait a second, you are hit with a sense of déjà vu.  Didn't you go through this before?

I know this cycle, I lived this cycle for years before finally committing to my career change.  And not just to the happily ever after aspect of a career change, I committed to the good, the bad and the ugly of the process.   I created a plan to not only make my dream career a reality but also a plan to overcome the obstacles that were sure to come my way.  

One big obstacle is motivation, when the going gets tough it is really hard to keep yourself motivated through the process.  If you are there right now or are preparing yourself to be there, then here are 5 amazing TED talks to help you power through those challenging times.

1. Why you will fail to have a great career presented by Larry Smith.

This is a great TED talk when your FEAR is the only person at your career change party and throwing excuses at you hoping one will stick!  Larry Smith is a professor at the University of Waterloo and this super blunt talk makes light of the excuses that we tend to tell ourselves.

2. How to Find Work You Love by Scott Dinsmore

​Scott Dinsmore created the Live Your Legend after being frustrated with the career message that society told us.  This talk helps you figure out what your purpose is so that you can find work you love and brings you joy.  Scott passed away in 2015 while travelling with his wife but his legend and legacy still lives on through this video and his site.  

3. Your elusive creative genius by Liz Gilbert

This isn't the first time that I have spoken about the power of Liz Gilbert in my life.  This is a great video when the fear of failure is strong and when we rationalize giving up on our dreams because we aren't meant for it to happen to us.  It is geared at creativity but is so relevant to any career change!

4. Why some of us don't have one true calling by Emilie Wapnick

There are some of us that are multi-passionate - we have so many interests and loves that drive us.  It can be hard to choose a career when we feel pulled in all these directions.  It is also hard to go through the challenge of a career change when we know that it may not last.  If you are one, then this TED talk is for you!

5. The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain

Career change is hard.  But it is harder for introverts for so many reasons.  It is hard to put ourselves out there, we don't like attention, we hate networking, etc.  But also because society hasn't been kind to us introverts, society tells us that being introverted is wrong, that we need to pretend we are outgoing, bold and assertive.  Susan breaks all of this down.  Watching this and reading her book of the same title, really gave me the courage to own my introversion as a badge not a weight.

If you are struggling right now and afraid that you may give up on your dreams then schedule a strategy call with me, let's talk you through this and get you motivated to keep going after your dreams.

Remember when you were a kid.  Bedtime was the worst, wasn’t it.  Especially when the lights went out and the monsters came out.  Especially the ones that lived under your bed, or in your closet or in the shadows on the wall.

Do you remember screaming for your parents who would slowly and bedrugingly come into room?  They would turn on the lights and those shadow turned out to be innocent pieces of furniture, when you looked underneath your bed there were no monsters just long lost and dusty toys and your closet?  Only full of clothes.
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The job search can feel like those monsters.  It can leave you feeling stressed out and discouraged.  And can leave you spending hours on Indeed throwing resumes out there in the hopes of finding something as a way to avoid this scary beast that is the job search!  But it is the unknown that is so terrifying but once you turn the lights on it becomes less scary.  In fact it becomes something manageable and doable.  

Knowing the steps and what is to come is key to turn that big scary monster into some innocent thing!  Plus moving through the job search in a more structured and intentional way will give you more control over the job search.

That is why I created The Job Search Roadmap.  This is a roadmap that goes over every single step of the job search giving you a sense of what is to come, giving you a plan of action to follow and leaving you feeling empowered instead of discouraged.

1. Introspection
This step is vital.  It allows you to figure you who you are (and what your superpower is) and also digs into your skills, interests and motivations.  It then allow you to create your Career Map – what your goals are and what options exist right now to get you on the path to those goals.

2. Marketing Plan
During a job search you become your own product and you are selling and marketing yourself to potential networking connections and potential employers.  Think about the message you want to convey.  Write your modern, foundational resume and cover letter.  Practice your elevator pitch.  And don’t forget your social media strategy.

3.  The Job Search
A lot of work comes before you even get to this!  But all that work helps prepare you for putting yourself out there.  Networking is key since three-quarters of jobs are found this way so figuring out any events, setting up some informational interviews, leveraging LinkedIn – all these different networking types will help you make connections.  I don’t want you to ignore job boards, just come up with a plan to use them to actually get a job, go to career fairs if it makes sense and get used to dealing with recruitment agencies.

4. Getting Hired
The best part of the process.  It all starts with the interview – prepare to answer those two common yet dreaded questions, deal with those nerves and get ready to shine.   Figure out your bottom line so when that offer comes in you know how to get your worth. 
 
I’ve made this even easier for you.  The most popular free resource I’ve created is a 5 day email course on The Job Search Roadmap.  Each day you get an email expanding each step with vital information to get you noticed, creating connections and finding your way to that dream career.   

Read on to the end, I have a FREE challenge to help you save your career change resolution!

For 15 years I had the same News Years Resolution.  To find my way to career happiness.

And for 15 years, I never found my way.  I failed at my resolution.

There was always a reason, an excuse, a justification that I would tell myself that would make it okay to let those dreams slip away.
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Looking back now, I know what the problem really was.

I had no clue what that my dream career looked like.  All I knew was that it wasn’t recruitment.  It was overwhelming to make such a broad and generalized resolution so it was easy to give up quickly.

That is the problem with resolutions, they are generally broad life changing statements that seem very easy and attainable at the time.  But give us a month and 80% of us have quit.  Usually because we are nowhere near that “perfect life” we had envisioned for ourselves and we are struggling because it all seems like TOO MUCH to get there.

So we give up.  And we hop back on the hamster wheel until the next year when we make those broad generalized resolutions again.

For me, I had tried everything.  I chose a word for my year, I set SMART goals, I created project plans.  But nothing seemed to work.

Then one year something clicked. I made a resolution to start making bread for our family.  That was it.  It was simple, clear and specific.  More importantly, it was ONE thing and one thing ONLY.  And I was successful.

So when the next year rolled around I wanted to recreate that magic for my career change goal.  I focused on figuring out what was the ONE thing I could focus on.  I dusted off my Job Search Roadmap to give me some guidance and it hit me.  I couldn’t find a new career when I didn’t even know what that new career looked like.  So my resolution?

To figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.

That was it.  My goal was to spend a year figuring out what career happiness looked like for me and to see if there was a job that existed that would lead me there.

So that is what I did.  I went through 5 steps that led me to where I am today.  Living my purpose, waking up excited each and every day and happy with my career.

I want that for you too.

(Note: I have a fun announcement at the end of this post to help you find your way to career happiness too.)

The 5 steps are easy, they took me on a path that anyone can take.  They opened up my world to me, got me out of my head and got me moving forward.

1. The Power of Assessments
I redid many of my favourite assessments plus some new ones.  I wanted to live my purpose and I had a sense of what that purpose was but wasn’t completely clear about it. The assessments helped give me clarity.   Plus, I wanted to know more about how to live my purpose in a way that left me feeling satisfied, played up my strengths and kept me motivated to survive any career change lows.

2. Self-Discovery
I spent some time looking in the looking glass by doing a number of self-discovery exercises.  These helped me determine what was important to me in terms of what I wanted and what I didn’t want in my new career.

3. Create a Focus
I had gathered a lot of information and now I needed to do something with it – create a targeted list of careers for me to go after.  I researched.  I talked to people.  A LOT of people, conducting informational interviews so that I had the information I needed to make an informed decision.

4. Goal Setting
Once I had an idea of the career I wanted, I then felt comfortable getting started.  I set myself up for success by setting goals in a way I knew that would work for me.  Namely, flexible and gentle mini goals that focused on what I wanted. Not elaborate project plans or SMART goals that left me exhausted before I even started!

5. My Roadmap
I followed my Job Search Roadmap and prepared myself for the obstacles that I knew were to come.  And come they did!  Obstacles like fear, money, motivation and support.  But I didn’t let them get in my way, because I had a plan to overcome them.
 

A funny thing happened by creating one small but tangible goal.  I ended up finding career happiness that year.  That elusive resolution finally became my reality. 

I know my success was because I set a simple, clear and specific goal.  I went through these 5 steps and by September of that year my career coaching business was born.
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My 2019 Resolution.
This year I have another simple, clear and specific goal.  To help YOU discover what you want to do when you grow up so that you too can find your way to career happiness.
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Which is why I am so excited to announce my first ever challenge. 

This is a free challenge for people who know that they want a change but who don’t have complete clarity on what that change looks like. 

It is for people who want a completely different career or a simple career pivot.  It is for people who want to check to see if they are in the right career.  And it is for people who are in the right career but who want to change something about it – like if they should be going after that promotion, change industries or fight for more work/life balance.

The challenge is 5 days long and will cover each of the 5 steps above with a daily training video sent to your email, worksheets to guide you and a Facebook group to surround you with others on the same path. 

2019 is YOUR year.  Your year to make your New Year’s Resolutions happen.  Your year to Find Your Way to Career Happiness.

I can’t wait to get started!  Click here to get your free spot!