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 to run to something, not from something. If
Speaker 1: you are pondering making a big switch in life, it
Speaker 1: is often more motivating to have something you actually do
Speaker 1: want to do, rather than just trying to get away
Speaker 1: from something you don't. I love hearing from people who
Speaker 1: are thinking about switching careers. There are often great ways
Speaker 1: to explore new options, and starting something new can be
Speaker 1: a good way to become more interested in life. I
Speaker 1: can usually recommend ways to fit training and searching into
Speaker 1: even a busy schedule. That said, noticed that career switchers
Speaker 1: come in different flavors. Some people have identified something they
Speaker 1: are very excited about. They may be reasonably happy in
Speaker 1: their current jobs. It's just that there is something they
Speaker 1: would like to do more. However, there are others whose
Speaker 1: career switching conversations center more on how miserable they are
Speaker 1: in their current work. They are looking to flee their
Speaker 1: current situations, and that is fine. I don't want people
Speaker 1: to be miserable, But sometimes folks then idealize some other
Speaker 1: profession as just being incredibly different from what they are
Speaker 1: currently doing. The logic goes that if they are unhappy,
Speaker 1: now doing something very different should make them happy. So
Speaker 1: now they need to go back to school for two
Speaker 1: years or more to do that. And I am thinking, WHOA,
Speaker 1: let's slow down. No profession is perfect. Even if you
Speaker 1: work for a nonprofit that is saving the world, you
Speaker 1: can still have a lot of emails and meetings and
Speaker 1: a distracted manager. You can have amazing colleagues and get
Speaker 1: paid a lot and have a terrible commute that leaves
Speaker 1: you feeling frazzled and starved for time. You can have
Speaker 1: incredible flexibility and the ability to work from home on
Speaker 1: interesting projects, and yet be in an industry where there's
Speaker 1: a lot of consolidation leading to turmoil and layoffs and
Speaker 1: the like. You can invest a lot of time and
Speaker 1: money in trying to change careers and find on the
Speaker 1: other end that things aren't nearly as blissful as you
Speaker 1: imagined them to be. I have seen a number of
Speaker 1: people switch jobs and careers to find something more flexible,
Speaker 1: and I mean anything more flexible, and then they wind
Speaker 1: up board because they are not challenged, and unhappy because
Speaker 1: they are underpaid. So if you are miserable in your
Speaker 1: current job, figure out how to lessen the immediate misery.
Speaker 1: First lots of times, these changes can be relatively doable.
Speaker 1: If you work for a big company, there is no
Speaker 1: doubt some other internal team that is hiring, so you
Speaker 1: can get away from a terrible manager. If you've got
Speaker 1: an awful commute, see if you can work from home
Speaker 1: another day or two per week, or find a different
Speaker 1: organization that lets you do just that. As we discussed
Speaker 1: in another episode this week, there is no harm in
Speaker 1: looking for a new job, and you might find a
Speaker 1: better one that uses your existing skills and credentials, no
Speaker 1: new ones required. If your work feels meaningless, maybe you
Speaker 1: can seek out a different project or start something new
Speaker 1: at your organization that feels more meaningful to you. Or
Speaker 1: you can start volunteering on the side, because work doesn't
Speaker 1: have to be everything in life. Then, once you have
Speaker 1: solved the immediate source of misery, create a vision of
Speaker 1: what you would like your life to look like. What
Speaker 1: kind of work do you truly want to be doing?
Speaker 1: When are you happiest? If you identify jobs that match
Speaker 1: up with this happy work, talk to lots of people
Speaker 1: in these professions and see what they like and what
Speaker 1: they don't like. How would you spend your days if
Speaker 1: you did this sort of job? What would your hours
Speaker 1: look like? Do the upsides outweigh the downsides? Could you
Speaker 1: live with those downsides? When you have a clear vision
Speaker 1: of what you are running toward, you can figure out
Speaker 1: how to take the steps to get there. But when
Speaker 1: you are just running away from some current misery, you
Speaker 1: may wind up in a place that is not much
Speaker 1: better given the time and energy invested. It's good to
Speaker 1: know what you want and not just what you don't.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod. You
Speaker 1: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts
Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio, app,
Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.