Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that when you are contemplating a career change
Speaker 1: or any other big change in life, make little bets.
Speaker 1: Don't bet at all that you will thrive in something new. Instead,
Speaker 1: find the smallest possible way to test your hypothesis that
Speaker 1: this is a good move. Today's tip comes from Dory Clark,
Speaker 1: a coach, consultant, and speaker who's been a guest on
Speaker 1: my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds. In an article
Speaker 1: in Harvard Business Review, Clark encourages those contemplating a new
Speaker 1: career to ask themselves, what is the smallest way to
Speaker 1: test my hypothesis? In other words, if you think something
Speaker 1: would be your dream career, find a small way to
Speaker 1: test that idea out before you make big bets to
Speaker 1: pursue it. Figure out a way to get a little
Speaker 1: real life experience in data about whether this career change
Speaker 1: will actually suit you. In the article, Clark gives the
Speaker 1: example of a person who thought she wanted to be
Speaker 1: a florist, but discovered after a day shadowing a florist
Speaker 1: that she couldn't stand the cold of the flower coolers.
Speaker 1: Florists turn out to spend a lot of time in
Speaker 1: their coolers. Much better to invest one day job shadowing
Speaker 1: to come to that realization than to have this person
Speaker 1: quit her day job enroll in a floral design program
Speaker 1: only to figure out that being a florist wasn't necessarily
Speaker 1: a good fit for her after all. So what are
Speaker 1: small ways to test your hypothesis that a new career
Speaker 1: is right for you. Job shadowing, informational interviews, and reading
Speaker 1: books can help you figure out what might be a
Speaker 1: good fit without you spending lots of money on training,
Speaker 1: and without you upending the career you already have. It's
Speaker 1: also wise to find small ways to test hypotheses about
Speaker 1: other big changes too. For instance, if you think you
Speaker 1: would like to buy a beach house, talk with friends
Speaker 1: who have beach houses about the time and expense that
Speaker 1: is required for upkeep and any unexpected headaches. Spend several
Speaker 1: weeks at the beach this summer instead of just one,
Speaker 1: to see whether you would really like to spend most
Speaker 1: of your summer at the beach, and to figure out
Speaker 1: whether you can work remotely from there. If you think
Speaker 1: you'd like a dog offer to dogs for a friend
Speaker 1: who is going out of town for the weekend. It
Speaker 1: is fun to imagine going for a long walk with
Speaker 1: a dog on a sunny Saturday morning. It's another thing
Speaker 1: to fit dog care into an already full day and
Speaker 1: contend with rainy late night trips outside for the dog
Speaker 1: to do its business. You want to know what you're
Speaker 1: getting into. Or maybe you're fantasizing about getting an MFA
Speaker 1: and poetry. That could be amazing, But it might be
Speaker 1: wise to take a single poetry class before you decide
Speaker 1: to spend all your spare time and money for the
Speaker 1: next few years squeezing coursework into your already busy schedule.
Speaker 1: By finding small ways to test hypotheses, whether about career
Speaker 1: moves or other major changes, you'll be able to get
Speaker 1: good information to inform your big decisions. Making little bets
Speaker 1: before are making big beds raises the chances that you
Speaker 1: actually get a big payoff in the meantime. This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Thanks for listening to before breakfast. If you've
Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.