We have to make decisions all the time. And that’s just fine because most of the decisions that we make are entirely unimportant. They’ll have no bearing on our happiness, future, or anything else, at least not to a significant degree. But there are those decisions that really are important. Who you decide to marry, for instance, is not inconsequential. It’ll have a significant bearing on virtually every aspect of your life. And what’s after that? Not far down the list of important decisions to make will be ones involving your career. You’ll be spending 40+ hours each week working in your career. You should hope that it makes you happy!
If it’s not, then it’ll be time for a change. But knowing you need a change and actually doing it are two different things. So where should you turn? In this blog, we’ll look at some useful places to look when you need a little help.
Look Within
The answer to where you need to turn could well be inside you. But if you don’t slow down and listen to yourself, then it’s possible that you’ll miss the answer! You can go a long way towards finding which move you should make by asking yourself some simple questions. For instance, what do you like doing? What kind of lifestyle do you want to lead? Are you better at working by yourself or with others? Do you want to be freelance or work within a company? Once you have all those answers locked down, you’ll be getting close to an answer.
Consult a Specialist
Next, you may find that it helps you if you can speak to specialists that will help you where work and your career is concerned. Sometimes, this can involve an immigration law firm that can guide you on legal matters. But sometimes, it’s simply the case that you need to speak to a careers specialist at your school or even a recruitment specialist to find out what you need to do to get into the right field.
New Opportunities
Another good option is to simply take a look at what’s out there. If you’ve been working in the same role for more years than you can remember, then you might be surprised at some of the opportunities that are available to you. Just browsing a job board can be enough to inspire you to make a change. If you’re looking around and you see a job that sounds appealing (for whatever reason), then investigate a little further. Is it something that you could actually do?
The Path of Others
If you’re not sure of what route you should take, then you can always look at the paths that other people have taken. You might not be particularly inspired by the work that your friends and family do, but you may be inspired by the work that people outside of your network do. So get reading. You could read the thoughts of Leigh Morgan of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or dig into a biography of the most successful people in business. Doing so might just show you what’s possible.
A Professional Mentor
Finally, you could always consider a mentor. This will be useful if you know that you’d like to stick within the industry in which you currently work, but you want to step up to a more senior position. It can be extremely valuable to get the thoughts and feelings of someone who has been there and see it all.