Career Change After Forty

Can I do it?

A career change after forty is supposedly fraught with difficulties. Age discrimination, lack of finances, fear of failure, difficulty deciding what to do next and lack of support from those around. And yet many people do it. Some extremely successfully.

So what is it about those people who successfully manage a career change after forty that allows them to make the transition? Is it luck, destiny, having the right skills, being in the right place at the right time, or something else?

The lever

Consider this. In every situation that you've been in, one thing is true. You were there! You are the single factor that is present in everything in your life. So if you're not leveraging yourself, if you're not making the most of who you are, then you're wasting the most valuable resource that you have.

Reliving your past?

Much of the advice you will find in terms of a career change after forty is about choosing those things you liked, or were good at, in the past and doing more of that. Remember that the things you've done up to now have got you to where you are today. So if you continue doing the same things you can expect to get the same results. Or usually, not quite so good results, as some people are finding out!

A different present

Here's a different approach to your career change after forty and some unconventional career change advice. Instead of trying to find a job that allows you to be yourself, first learn how to be yourself and then learn how to make decisions so that you find a job or career that allows you to stay yourself .

I know this is a subtle distinction and it's significant. It's the Be - Do - Have sequence that many different sources are talking about today.

The 'how to'

The easiest way to make this kind of shift is to learn how to manipulate your physical body. When you consider that your system is a bodymind, it makes sense that a change in one aspect will affect the whole system.

The things that work

One of the changes is that you begin to sort for what actually works for you. Instead of feeling limited by problems and difficulties, your orientation is towards what you like and what is going well for you.

That 'thing' that you've always dreamed of, for example, will tend to make itself more prominent in your awareness. You'll begin to consider how it may be possible to make good decisions so that you begin to make it happen for yourself.

New future

When you organize your career change after forty in this way, it's definitely not about putting your past into your future. You begin to create a new future for yourself, a future of your own choosing. And even if you end up doing things that you loved from your past, because you approach them from a different angle, they have a different meaning.

Get a life!

Of course, this is not a quick fix. And it's not for the faint of heart! It takes commitment and dedication, but what you will end up with, is a life that you can call your own... a life worth living... where you've done the things that you really want to do, without compromise and without regret.

You get to make the decision...

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