How to Navigate Midlife Career Change

Career change can be scary–especially in midlife when you may feel typecast into one industry and your financial decisions aren’t just about you as an individual.

Let’s reframe: what do you want to grow into next as your life unfolds?  If you have children, what do you want them to observe?  Taking the safe route or taking a risk that is more aligned with who you are?

By middle age, a lot of professionals find themselves stuck in draining careers and work-life patterns. Others hit midlife and simply feel lost because they no longer find any joy in the work they used to love. If you find yourself in this situation, or perhaps you’re in a declining industry (like newspaper publishing), you might be at that point of considering a midlife career change but are unsure of where to start.

The good thing is changing careers is no longer the bind it used to be in today’s dynamic work environment. Just a generation or so ago, people rarely changed careers. They held only a few jobs over their lives and were expected to slowly but surely work their way up the ladder. Nowadays, change is the new normal.

While the prospect of starting afresh can be daunting and intimidating, it’s never too late. In fact, a midlife career change can improve your prospects across the board, helping you secure a higher salary, more fulfilling work, and even flexible working hours.

With this in mind, here’s how you can go about designing a midlife career change.

Designing Your Life: Making a Midlife Career Change

First, you have to challenge the dysfunctional belief that you have just one calling in life. There’s no such thing as a dream job. At this point in your life, there are several paths you can take that will all lead to a fulfilling life.

People make midlife career changes all the time. Let’s look at some core principles to get you started.

1. Reframe Your Career

Going by the principles of design, there’s no one solution to a problem. When designing a career change, it’s best to evaluate several options before making a choice. Look at your life and what it could look like in the next five or so years. Use a timeframe that’s long enough to make significant accomplishments yet short enough for the commitment not to be daunting.

Imagine walking into a movie theatre and watching three movies. Each movie reflects a different journey for your life:

Movie #1: Your Optimized Life

In this life, you redesign the career you’re already in so you can spend more time on tasks that energize rather than those that drain. With a bit of self-reflection, you might realize that you don’t hate your job, just certain aspects of it. Once you’ve figured this out, you can then take steps to optimize and re-craft your career to best suit your needs.

Movie #2 Your Alternate Life

Now, this is the life you would have if your current career were gone. If you had to make a living without the first option, what would you do? Create a five-year plan for life number two. Maybe you would have been a writer, an analyst, or a chef. Envision this life.

Movie #3 Your Fascinated Life

If money and image were no object, how would you spend your days? This question is meant to determine what you value. It’s meant to help you identify your motivations for a career change and design your life’s purpose.

Can you make a good living doing what fascinates you?

2. Prototype Your New Career Path

Once you’ve settled on a career path or new life, wait – don’t rush in. Don’t commit before you’ve done your research. Sample your life designs and figure out if it’s worth it.

Find people currently living the life you want to live and hear their life stories. Now, this is where your networking skills come in. You need to have an idea of what you’re getting yourself into before you shut the door on your old life. Try before you buy.

3. Get Started

Sometimes planning can get in the way of action. Making a midlife career change requires tenacity and some courage (and not to mention a bit of organization and productivity work!).  A great way to get started is to start small and make incremental changes. For instance, you could start by volunteering for an organization in the field you’re interested in or attend some conferences here and there.

Better yet, acquire new skills and qualifications in line with your desired profession. Taking action no matter how small can help you overcome the biggest obstacle to midlife career change: fear. Of course, fear is warranted in this case. You’re starting over – there’s a real fear of failure, a fear of the unknown.

Taking the Next Step

Here’s a thought: Your life is the sum total of every choice you’ve ever made. It’s a scary thought yet motivating all the same. The choices you make today will shape your life five years from now. When making a change as significant as shifting career paths, it’s important to take some time to reflect and do a little research.

If fear is holding you back, remember that risk precedes reward. So, take that leap of faith. Your new life awaits you.

p.s. – Having a hard time deciding what’s next?  Perhaps we can get some clarity in a free one-hour trial session.