Finding life in the career transitions
In 2020 Bruce Weiler wrote a book called ‘Life is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age.’
The idea that ‘life is in the transitions’ resonates hugely with my work as a career change coach. Ultimately what each of my clients is seeking is a new start – something more meaningful, more fulfilling, an opportunity that suits where they are in their lives right now.
Finding that inspiring ‘new thing’ does indeed produce new life, hope, and, most importantly, the belief and energy to make that change happen.
Each of my own three career transitions has given me an affirmative push along a new path – one that generated energy and purpose. There was indeed life in each of those transitions!
Psychologists call uncomfortable life transitions being in a state of liminality. Sometimes this feels unwanted and directionless. Perhaps it feels like having one foot in the past and the other reaching blindly for the future?
When you don’t know the answer to ‘where next?’ or even more importantly, ‘why there?’ you can feel hopelessly adrift. But there are great questions you can answer to convert helpless drift to purposeful direction.
Midlife crisis becomes a professional reset
Many people seek a new start, and if anything, the age at which that urge surfaces is becoming lower. There seems much greater acceptance that a change is not a failure but something far more positive – another chance to succeed in ways you define for yourself.
And the chances are that your definition of success has shifted since you embarked on your first career. Many don’t give their personal view of success any thought at all, sleepwalking instead into the traditional scramble to ‘the top’.
It’s only when something stops working for us at work that we take stock and consider new options. Only then might we actually stop and ask: what am I aiming for?
And this is a much better track! By answering that seemingly simple question we can start to uncover a better path for ourselves. So when you’ve reached one of life’s turning points and want to uncover a direction that’s a better fit for you at this point in your life, here are 5 questions to help you discover the potential new life in your transition.
Q1: What Rewards do you Want?
Try thinking about your life now and how you would like work to fit into it. Apart from paying your bills, what else would make your work feel rewarding? Now is the time to shrug off those unconscious measures of success you may have inherited from your parents, your friends or other influencers in your life.
This worksheet will help you think about how you measure career success today. When you have a clearer idea of these criteria you can also see why you’re ready for a change!
In his book ‘From Strengths to Strength: Finding success, happiness and deep purpose in the second half of life’, Arthur C. Brookes makes an important reframe of what often happens when we run out of steam having achieved a certain level of success.
In our 20s, 30s, and 40s we are often chasing generic measures of success. When this peters out it doesn’t mean the end of our professional lives, but the end of the first curve – the trajectory that depends on what he calls ‘fluid intelligence’. The good news is that there is a second curve, and this uses our ‘crystallized intelligence’. As Arthur C. Brookes puts it:
‘ When you are young, you have raw smarts; when you are old, you have wisdom. When you are young, you can generate a lot of facts; when you are old, you know what they mean and how to use them.’
Far from being washed up at the end of that first curve, we are ready for a reset and to jump on what he calls ‘the second curve.’
Finding your second curve
You’ve already answered #1 – What rewards are you looking for?
This is important and holds a rich store of potential guidance. Here’s another question that can help you make a career reset:
Q2: What do you want more of in your career?
Give yourself a quiet 10 minutes and jot down some words or ideas that come tumbling out in response.
When I answered this question before I made my final career transition, my answers included more:
freedom, autonomy, meaning, flexibility, impact with my own choice of clients, focus on career change (not career start), taking calculated risks on my own terms
My move was from being a university career consultant (employed) to career change coach (self employed) and I certainly experience more of all those things I was yearning for now! My own reset delivered on the things I value at this stage of my life.
You can also flip the question to ‘what do I want less of?’ Answering that one will throw up some important clues too.
Q3: What are you doing when you’re in flow?
When we’re in a state of flow we’re using our talents to the optimum level, we are totally engaged in the activity, probably lose track of time and want to stay in that productive and energizing place. Can you think of a time recently when you have felt in flow? If not at work, think about what really lights you up in other areas of your life, where time disappears and you love what you’re doing.
What is that activity? What activities from your past? If you’d like to explore this in more depth you can access my free guide ‘Discover Work That Sets You Alight’ here
Q4: What does your ideal working day look and feel like?
I bet this wasn’t on your mind when you launched your first career! But now you know better – and what you now need for a fulfilling, engaging, meaningful and enjoyable day’s work is probably very different.
Take a few minutes to think about your ideal work day:
Where would you be? With whom? What are you doing? Are you at home, on site, in an office (or does this vary?) What’s the work culture? Large or small organization or working for yourself? What work structure/hours would you prefer?
Your answers provide vital clues to what your second curve could look like.
Q5: What motivated previous career moves?
Sometimes, looking at why you made earlier changes, either across roles or organizations, into new fields or towards a completely new career direction can reveal something important about your purpose, or about what you value.
What’s hidden in those transitions, whether of our own making or not? Choices about what next could be based on:
Values – what matters most to you
Purpose – what gives your work meaning
Interests – what absorbs and fascinates you
Motivations – what drives and energises you
What were you moving towards and away from in those earlier transitions? To explore this more deeply, you can download your free guide to Joining the Dots in your Career Transitions here
When you understand what’s at the heart of those transitions, you may also be able to throw light on your current restlessness.
With clarity on WHY you need a change of direction, you also release the energy, conviction and resourcefulness to create the future you need.
If you’d like to discuss how you can find the ‘life’ in your next career transition, just drop me a message. We can spend 30 minutes digging into how you can move forward with renewed life and a real spring in your step!