Career Change - 4 Lessons Learnt From a Career Change

Mar 11

Career change - 4 lessons learnt from a career pivot - Sarah Burrows - Achieving Ambition

Do you sometimes wish you could change your career? Just do something else? Totally different to the career path you're on now? Something more fulfilling? I did, I was stuck, bored and needed to change career. Read on to discover my career change - 4 lessons learnt from a career change.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business, or maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.

That’s where I was, I liked my job, but I wasn't in love with it. So one day in lockdown after being made redundant I decided to pivot in my career and set up a business. Despite being in the field of psychology and coaching for a long time, I was working full-time as an internal evaluator at a charity when I decided to take the leap and train to coach! Scary and exciting! Now I coach people to break through barriers of low confidence, pivot their career, or step up to get that promotion.

It isn't always easy but I truly love it. Here are some lessons I've learnt on this journey so far.

Lesson 1 for a career change

Being aligned to your values is empowering.

You may have heard about values before. They are the thing that drives us, they shape the decisions we make and the path we choose.

Here are a handful of values, have a look and see which ones resonate with you the most; Freedom, security, loyalty, intelligence, connection, creativity, humanity, teamwork, wealth, openness and success. There are hundreds of different values that have importance. Knowing what yours are is key to confidently stepping into a new career.

Knowing why I do what I do when things are difficult is what keeps me motivated. My values include helping people, connection, achievement, and freedom. Freedom can come in many different forms. Freedom to work doing something you love is the most rewarding. Coaching clients and seeing transformations drives me to get up in the morning. The more people I can help the better my day is. (Corny I know)!

Lesson 2

It's OK to be bad or new at something.

I had never run a business before! I am learning how to do it all the time. But that's OK! Learning new things means you can be good at them even if you aren't right now. In actual fact, our brains are wired to continue learning throughout our lives - despite previous research implying otherwise. This is called neuroplasticity, it is the brain’s ability to continuously develop new neural pathways. So if you're thinking that you can't pivot because you're not sure how to do another career or job, you can learn.

Lesson 3 for a career change.

Go with YOUR gut!

Not everyone else needs to come on your journey, many people have their own insecurities (and that's OK) but they don't need to be yours. They aren't you. They may not understand or support this career change. That is fine. Even if the new path doesn't progress the way you hoped. Take the risk and try it out.

Lesson 4

If you decide to take a career pivot, know where you are trying to get to.

It's like a satnav, you don't set off hoping you're going in the right direction. You pop the postcode into google maps and it shows you the route. If only life were as easy as this. But even without a satnav guiding you, get clear on where you want to be in 12 months. Set some long term goals.

To Conclude

These are 4 lessons I've learnt in changing up my career! If you have any questions or comments feel free to drop them below as I would love to discuss.

So, be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Sarah is a Career Change Coach. She helps women break through and pivot in their careers. Whether you're not networking, developing your own work or side hustle! Stop feeling like you don’t know where to start and reach out!

Sarah has a Masters in Psychology and is both accredited by and a member of the British Psychological Society. She has experience working with the military and corporate sector in recovery, transition, leadership, and mentoring.