3 Clues You're Ready (for your next career move)

Career Focus
23 April 2023

3 Clues You’re Ready (for your next career move)

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How do you know when you’re ready to move from one stage of your career to the next? Having done this a few times over the past twenty-plus years, I want to share the signs with you today.

1) You Feel Restless

You know the content of your job and feel restless. There’s an itch for more, even if you’re not sure what “it” is. Sometimes – or often – you feel bored, like you’ve mastered these skills.

Boredom and restlessness are clues that you’re ready for something different.

2) Driftwood

You start to see examples of people doing things that excite you. Abraham-Hicks calls this “driftwood.”

Imagine you’re at sea. You know you’re getting closer to shore when you start to see driftwood, floating pieces of wood that indicate you’re near land.

The examples you see of things you may want to do or learn about are driftwood. You collect driftwood through introspection, networking, social media, reading, and spending time with people who care about you.

At first, the driftwood may seem random but, over time, trust that you will see a pattern emerge.

3) Shed Your Skin

Like a snake, you’re ready to shed your skin and embrace something bigger. When you’re willing to face the unknown, that’s your biggest clue that you’re ready for the next stage of growth.

It’s this tricky transition period with which people struggle. You want to grow but you also feel uncomfortable with uncertainty. You can hold both, accepting discomfort in one hand and moving forward with the other. I wish I knew this sooner! I thought I had to get rid of all uncertainty before I could move ahead. Not true.

Keep in mind, your saboteurs always appear during times of transition and get very loud in trying to maintain the status quo. Click here for tips on handling saboteurs, including the universal one, The Judge.

Resistance

I’ve shared the signs indicating you’re ready for career change. At the same time, there’s a special pitfall I want to warn you about. Resistance.

You will face internal resistance (see saboteurs above) and perhaps external resistance too. Your community of friends, family, and coworkers may feel threatened by you changing because it activates their saboteurs.

Resistance is normal AND you can handle it.

Header Photo by Marten Newhall on Unsplash, Bored Woman Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash, Driftwood Photo by Kikki Starr on Unsplash, Snake Shedding Skin Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

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