If I conducted an informal poll of my clients, friends and colleagues, I could probably safely assume that a significant portion of my personal connections would respond that their passion and career are not in alignment. I could surmise that the majority of my personal and professional circle is comprised of midcareer professionals and their discontent stems from the fact that they are at the top of career curve working their way down the other side. Perhaps they aren’t doing what they would like to do at the present time because to embark on a career change at this stage in life would be just too damn hard and stressful!

Having survived a career transition in 2012 after more than 20 years in a different industry, I can personally attest to the fact that a career change can produce a lot of anxiety and frustration. Likewise, it requires some soul searching and getting in touch with one’s authentic self to explore one’s true passion and how it can fit into a career plan. Looking back, despite all the emotional turmoil that a career change generates, it was worth it to embark on a career path that I am passionate about.

If you’re at the crossroads of a career change and fumbling with answers as to your next career move, grab a pen and paper and write your answers down to these thought provoking questions:

• What did you dream about being when you grew up?
• What does your perfect work day looks like?
• What activity excites and boosts your enthusiasm?
• If you could do anything you wanted to earn living with no regard to financial compensation or set qualifications, what would it be?
• Thinking about the responsibilities of your current position, what aspects do you enjoy?
• What are some aspects of your job that you don’t like?
• What is the one aspect from preventing you from changing your current job or occupation?

Hopefully these questions triggered some critical thought processes and encouraged some deep thinking on your part.

• How does your perfect work day compare to your real work day?
• How can you incorporate some passion into your everyday life?
• Are you interested in discovering how you can turn your passion into a job or business opportunity?

If you are curious to know if your interests and current occupation are in alignment, The Career Manifesto: Discover Your Calling and Create and Extraordinary Life is a great read!

If you’re ready to turn your true passion into a job that you love or want to accelerate your job search to greener pastures, let me lead the way! Ideal Career Services can help you move forward in your quest for rediscovering the ‘happy’ in your career through customized 1-1 Career and Job Search Coaching. 

Motivation is the force that propels you to move forward to get the job done and achieve your goals. Some people are naturally motivated without any outside influence while others need a bit of prompting to get their mojo going. If you fall into the latter group, here are some steps you can take to self-motivate yourself into a better job position or new career.

Hang With Likeminded People. As the saying goes, it is hard to soar with eagles when you are surrounded by turkeys. You know the feeling; you’re in a pretty ‘up’ mood and ready to take on the world until you meet up with a friend and their negativity overflows into your life. Talk about a motivation killer! Now I am not suggesting that you to ditch your negative friend but your motivation level will increase by associating with others who are inspired to do something with their lives instead of just complaining about it. Align your networks with those who have achieved something that you admire and learn from their journey.

Set Short Term and Long Term Goals. Setting short and long term goals is a critical component in self-motivation. Quite often just the achievement of completing a goal will magically spur you to take another step. It is always a good idea to set a long range goal to provide some direction and then align some short goals to help you along the way.  Assign a deadline to your long term goal so you have a timeframe to work within and set your short term goals daily or weekly to keep you on track.

Take Small Steps. It is common to feel overwhelmed with your goals when you are looking at the big picture. The best defence to conquering that feeling when you don’t where to start is to take baby steps. Determine what is the very first small step you can take to start the process? Start a list of the different components that you will need to complete to get to the end result and then pick one component to accomplish first.

Monitor Your Progress. Making some head wave in your personal journey and recognizing what you have accomplished is very inspiring and self-motivation. Chart your progress so you can see how far you’ve come but don’t get too bogged down by how far you still need to go.

Just Do It. I love Millennials because they don’t over analyze everything to death like the generations before them. They figure out what they want to do, how to do it and jump right in.  They don’t get into self-sabotage mode by overthinking everything and what will happen if it doesn’t work.  (Of course, I am not talking about making a major purchase that can affect your financial future and anything quite so life changing!) They gather the information they need to start the process and adjust accordingly as they go along. They just do it and that is a good attitude to adopt!

Need some more help in setting some career goals and direction?  Ask me how by reaching out to me at 647-361-9916 for a free 1/2 goal setting consultation session or email at cacristiano1@gmail.com

Welcome!

I consider myself to be somewhat technical savvy on a novice level and used to enjoy the fine art of blogging a few years back. My old blog was about the trials and tribulations of raising two boys, running a household and just quirky observations of everyday life. Well, my life has changed since those earlier blogging days, my boys have grown into fine young adults finding their way in the world, and the hubby and I took the plunge and bought a cottage to get out of the city on the weekends and enjoy some quality fishing time.  In addition, amid all the chaos of child rearing, my career took a drastic 360 in 2012.

After 20 years in the HVAC industry, my time in that industry was coming to an end. I knew two years prior that I needed a career change but somehow familiarity and complacency kept me in a profession that no longer excited or motivated me.  When circumstances beyond my control forced me to make a change, I took the plunge and went back to school to embark on a new academic and career journey studying career development. My interest piqued into helping jobseekers navigate the job market through my freelance work as a writer penning career related articles for Career Connections (a supplement of The Toronto Sun) and being offered the chance to train as a professional resume writer.

Fast forward to 2016, over the past 4 years, I have been fortunate enough to work within the non-profit sector supporting various government sponsored self employment business development training programs and had the opportunity to network with some very aspiring jobseekers in their quest to find the perfect job or to create their own financial independence through self employment.

It is through this work and connection with jobseekers of all ages and career levels that I realized that I am one of the lucky ones, that I found my true passion in life: to work with jobseekers from all walks of life to coach them to find the perfect job that will provide a suitable income while stimulating and empowering their intellect to move forward in their career journey. With my academic training completed and having experienced being a  midcareer professional in a career transition personally, I realized that I had the tools, resources, training, motivation and insider scoop on a midcareer transition and all the emotions, highs, lows and sheer frustration that can go along with a job search or career change.

Since my first connection helping a midcareer professional find some light and hope at the end of their long job search journey, I have never looked back.

I invite you to follow my blog and come back often for inspiration, motivation and insights on careers, job search, interview preparation, resumes and everything in between that will help you along your job search and career journey.

Until next time….