Whether or not you have children, there’s been a distinct “back to school” feeling this week. The morning air’s a little chillier, the supermarkets have all ramped up their stationery aisles, and there’s a general sense of the Summer fun coming to an end and that it’s time to get serious again.
When you’re unhappy in your work and wanting a change, this time of year is particularly laden with significance. If you grew up in a country where September marked the start of the academic year, you’ll be conditioned to see this time as one of change and new beginnings - of crisp new uniforms and pencil cases, possibly different teachers and classmates, and a feeling of life stepping up a level. So then when you come back from a holiday in the sun to the same old dreary job and pressures, your sense of ‘stuckness’ at this time of year can feel especially heightened.
On the other side, this feeling of new beginnings can be an excellent prompt to start making the moves you were putting off over the fun and barbecue-filled Summer months. And there’s a lot we can learn from our experiences of education (both good and bad!) that can help in this process of making a successful career change. Here are three ideas:
Know how you learn best
Are you a social or a visual learner? Do you prefer using your body or your sense of logic? Education theory around learning styles suggests that we all have different preferences for how we like to absorb and process information. Not only does this have implications for the kind of working environment we may thrive in, but it can be applied to how we go about the process of our shift.
Going through a career change, especially in the early stages, is very much a process of learning - taking in and using new information to help you work out what career is right for you and how to make it happen. If you have a visual learning style, you might want to create a giant mood board to capture all the ideas and inspiration you pick up during your journey of discovery, or perhaps to visualise a career goal. If you are a kinetic or a social learner, it might be all about getting out and about, trying things and meeting people. In fact, we’re all a bit of a combination of the learning styles, so the best approach is probably a blended one.
Don’t be too punishing
How do you speak to yourself when things don’t go to plan or you aren’t making as much progress as you like? Are you loving and encouraging or do you sound like one of those sadistic teachers at school who seemed to really enjoy telling you all how useless you were and dishing out detentions? We can really be our own harshest critic, berating ourselves for not doing what we planned to do or when we failed a job interview. Actually if a teacher spoke like our inner voice did sometimes, they’d probably get suspended!
Of course, just like the best classrooms, we all need structure and self-discipline if we want to succeed, but this has to be combined with self-love otherwise, just like the quaking child at the back of the class, we end up going into a fear response, which isn’t the best state from which to take positive action. This is where we can end up ‘rebelling’ and spending all weekend locked away in front of Netflix eating pizza instead of working on our career change! Like with a teacher, the best approach with yourself is to be firm but fair. Set yourself structures and deadlines, but be fair and kind to yourself if things don’t go to plan.
Give yourself a gold star for effort
Research shows that the people who end up being most happy and successful in life are those that are rewarded as children not for their achievements but for effort. By developing what’s called a ‘growth mindset’, they learn that their abilities aren’t fixed, e.g. clever/dumb, good/bad at maths, but that they can become good at anything if they put in the work. So how does that apply to our shifts? Well unfortunately the fixed mindset (opposite of growth) is pretty prevalent and, some would say, encouraged by a school system that is focused on exam results and ‘streaming’ students into ability levels from an early age. What this means is that, when it comes to our careers, we can be held back by a whole load of ingrained beliefs e.g. I’m not a ‘maths person’/creative/good at sports that end up defining us and narrowing the scope of what we believe to be possible. A fixed mindset fosters a kind of defeatist attitude where we believe that if we aren’t immediately really good at something, it isn’t worth trying. When it comes to the job hunt, this can mean we get put off at the first hurdle – the first failed job interview or ignored email.
Encouraging a growth mindset in ourselves means we’re more likely to persevere when the going gets tough, seeing the struggle as part of the process. Giving ourselves little rewards for effort along the way and celebrating any progress, however small, can help foster this attitude. Research by Harvard shows that recognising our “small wins” every day can boost morale and productivity, so why not take a little time at the end of each day or week to acknowledge each small step you’ve taken towards your new career?
If you’re feeling that “back to school” feeling and could do with some support in making your career change happen, get in touch with me for a free 30 minute consultation – contact@annalevycoaching.com or check out more articles and career change advice here on my blog.