I was recently asked how do you change careers because the woman knew I’ve changed careers twice. I ratted off the first things that came to my head:
- Figure out insurance
- Figure out how much money to save
After our interaction, I continued reflecting on my career changes and realized that my response was only part of the story. So, I broke my career changes into two phases. I’m lovingly calling the first phase Acceptance and the second phase Action.
Congrats! You’ve Arrived at Phase 1: Acceptance
For my first career change from English teacher to software developer, my wake-up call was a blood clot. My wake-up call for my second career change from software developer to stock trader was the feeling of incapacitating overwhelm. Both wake-up calls indicated that things were not working. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t enjoying my work. Most importantly, I didn’t want my boss’s job.
Step 1: Exploration
This ignited the first step to see what other options were out there. For my first career change, I researched various paths, like becoming a therapist or a life coach. I chatted with people in those jobs, determining if they had a life that I wanted. For my second career change, I took courses that interested me, like writing and trading.
Step 2: Tipping Point
Eventually, things came to a tipping point. For my first career change, my boss asked me to become a property manager in addition to the career advisor/assortment of other roles I was playing to keep the company afloat during COVID-19. I told her I’d been considering a career change to become a coder, but I needed to see if I could get into a coding boot camp.
For my second career change, it was a lot harder for me to admit. I was convinced that there was something wrong with me. If I did enough inner work, I could fix it to make this job work. After two years of working with various coaches to address these issues, I finally understood that the problem wasn’t me, and I accepted that this job just wasn’t a good fit.
Step 3: Decision
For my first career change, I was accepted into a coding boot camp. Once things clicked in place, like figuring out insurance and how much money I needed to save for 9 months of no income, I set my end date.
For my second career change, I wanted to create my own job. I knew that trading would be a key player in it. I’d already been learning the skill, so I decided to fully commit. After I figured out insurance, paid off my coding school debt, and calculated how much money I’d need for 1-year of no income, I set my end date.
Step 4: Waiting
I sat in the discomfort of my decision. I waited about four months for both career changes before officially leaving. Of course, I did not have to wait. I could have just quit. But it took me some time to get things in order.
Welcome to Phase 2: Action
After reaching the final day, it was time to step over the threshold. For my first career change, I naively thought that the most challenging part would be quitting my job and jumping into the unknown. Instead, I discovered that doing the thing (coding) that I said I wanted to do was actually super activating. I struggled with debilitating anxiety. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. Luckily, I quickly realized that I needed to learn more than just a new skill set to successfully change careers. This began my healing journey that I’m still on today.
Step 1: Getting Unstuck
I’ve learned a lot since my first career change, so I’m not starting at square one for my second career change. Some of these acquired learnings include:
- I’m responsible for my actions.
- I’m not a victim. Things aren’t happening to me. I’m in control.
- No one is going to save me. I can save myself.
- I don’t need to look outside of myself for answers. I know the answer. I need to look inside of myself.
- There’s nothing wrong with me. I don’t need to be fixed.
And so on and so forth. Although these may seem like obvious truths, I didn’t recognize how these patterns played out in my life and kept me stuck.
Step 2: Commitment
After clearing unresolved trauma and changing my limiting and subconscious beliefs, my second career change has felt smoother. The new path is much more aligned, and I see where this path could lead me. So, I’m 100% in. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make this work.
This looks like committing to a morning ritual, where I tune my frequency and set my intentions for the day. This looks like creating a schedule that reflects what is important to me. This looks like regulating my nervous system by centering regularly. This looks like holding myself accountable for the goals that I’ve set for myself.
These are things that I’ve always wanted to be able to do consistently. Things that I knew would be good for me if I did them. I observed these fancy people on Instagram or podcasts sharing their tips and tricks for success, like having a morning routine, regulating their nervous system, not checking their phone first thing in the morning, etc. These were aspirational things that I didn’t think someone like me would ever be able to do.
However, having changed careers to a stock trader, my schedule is much more flexible, and I have much more time freedom. This has allowed me to honor my body’s needs throughout the day. I never thought I’d get to this point, so I’m so thankful for the investments that I have made in myself.
Key Takeaway:
Changing careers is totally possible. However, it may take longer than you think. My first career change took 15 months in total. Hence, I saved money to support myself for 1-year this go-round.
Additional assistance might be needed along the way. So, I budgeted extra for that as well!