subject: Choose Your Next Job! [print this page] I happen to have a questionnaire I offer to most of my new clients. Even when I know they're coming to me to slim down or be a better parent or find out ways to be nice to themselves for a change, 25% of the questions are concerning their work. Why is this?
For many people work is a vital part of the backdrop of their lives, something that just must be factored in. For fairly a few it's a big part of their identity, even.
So I like to raise the issue in the questionnaire so that they, and I, can evaluate the place of work in their lives; it's rather like checking whether a client is single or living with husband, 3 kids and an Alsatian - it does make a difference.
One of the questions is: if you didn't have your present job, what would you be doing? Few of the answers are quite surprising; others ("I don't know") make a few raised eyebrows.
You know what's impending next. Yes, go on, ask yourself that question at once! Send me the answer if you like :)
In my previous career I trained teachers of English (as a foreign language). A few of my trainees were just starting out at the job market or were already teaching, and came to me to upgrade their skills. Most of them, nevertheless, had been doing work in other industries and had opted that, actually, they wanted to do something unique, occasionally stunningly unique. My "job" was to provide them the basic skills, but my own personal secret mission (!) was to infect them with a feeling that teaching English was the total most exciting thing they could ever do.
Having been like a midwife to almost 300 people's new, or first, professions, one day I chose to try the career change thing for myself. And you know what, dropping an identity gladly held for 20+ years turned out to be pleasantly effortless.
A number of years on, I can honestly reveal that pursuing a second career has (cliche!) been a journey. It has enhanced my life to a great extent and taught me so many things, one of them being that I'm a not a natural business man ... Nevertheless, since coaching people to have amazing lives is even more fun than teaching English, running a business is a price I am ready to pay :)
And the greatest thing is, part of my job now is to infect people with a feeling that whatever change it is that they're making in their life is the absolute most fun thing they can possibly do ...
Of course, a person's work is just one among many areas of their life which may be worth changing, although as it's a field that is extremely rich in interesting opportunities, it is quite worth selecting a job that means something - to you.
by: Allan Haycock
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