When I was thinking about leaving the corporate world to start my own business, one of the hardest things to figure out exactly what to do next. I had been feeling a bit detached from my work, and I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant I should do. I still liked aspects of my marketing role, but I started to find some of the meetings, discussions, and projects to be less meaningful.
On the one hand, I wanted to leave, but on the other, staying the course could be better for my career continuity. After all, I was at a reputable company known for its positive culture, managing a globally known brand. I had just been promoted, and I could see a path forward at the company that could work. So I had a lot of questions I struggled to answer:
- Am I ready to make a move?
- Is now the best time to leave?
- Would changing roles within our company make things better?
- Is this “disengaged” feeling normal or a sign I should make a change?
I hear similar questions all the time from other people considering a career change. Is what I’m feeling “normal?” Should I leave if I don’t know what to do instead? How long should I stick things out?
One of the things I wished I had when I was trying to make big career decisions was a sort of guide to help me figure out where I was in my career journey. At least this way, I could know if I was at the start, the middle, or the end of that particular chapter in my career. Not knowing where you are is like trying to navigate with a map without first knowing your starting point.
Take things one step at a time
Start by figuring out where you are. I created the “7 Stages of Career Change Roadmap” to help you do just this. The stages outlined in the roadmap have come from the common patterns and struggles I’ve observed while coaching hundreds of professionals balancing where they are in their careers with where they want to go. In the roadmap, I distill these insights into exercises you can walk yourself through to gain the clarity, confidence, an courage to relaunch your career.
If reading through that guide didn’t quite give you the clarity you needed, I’ve created this short 3-min animated film to help illustrate and clarify the common stages people go through when navigating the choppy waters of a big career change . . .
Anytime you’re standing at the intersection of who you have been and who you want to become, it can lead to confusion, internal conflict, and even guilt. Allow yourself to get oriented. This way, you can move yourself forward instead of constantly going around in endless circles.
Pinpoint where you are
To supplement your Roadmap, I’ve created a handy 1-page 7 Stages of Career Change Summary to help you figure out where you are on your career journey.
Register free to access resource
BONUS CONTENT- THE MAKING OF THE 7 STAGES FILM
If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to create an animation like this, you can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how I made the 7 Stages of Career Change animated film. In this post, I share my process from start to finish, the team behind the creative work, and a few of the lessons I learned along the way.
