Preparing for Your Career Change

The secret of making something work in your lives is, first of all, the deep desire to make it work: then the faith and belief that it can work: then hold that clear definite vision in your consciousness and see it working out step by step, without one thought of doubt or disbelief.

~ Eileen Caddy, Writer ~


Preparing for your career change is a journey as much as it is a destination.

Step 1 on the journey is about giving yourself permission to play.

Step 2 on the journey is about designing a plan.

Step 3 – Preparing for your career change is where the rubber meets the road. It’s where you get to choose how willing you are to do what it takes to have what you want. Step 3 is where your mettle will be tested.

For me, the game of Survivor, however you feel about how “real” it is, offers an example of what people are willing to do when they put something big, like winning a million dollars, at stake.  What are you willing to do to put having a career that lights you up and excites you at stake?

Are you willing to…

  • Risk putting something big at stake to design an exciting and fulfilling life?
  • Take a few steps backwards before you go forward?
  • Become a “beginner”?
  • Live a life of integrity, congruency and meaning?
  • Die used up rather than burned out?

Designing a career change to a truly Sexy Second Act may require all of this from you and more. It may require a combination of financial planning, education, overcoming whatever limiting beliefs you have about yourself and your ability to invent something new, developing muscles you didn’t know you possessed, and digging deep within to discover who you really are, what you are all about, and what your gifts are and how to use them to serve others in a way that fulfills you.

Part of preparing for your career change includes a willingness to allow your transition to take however long it takes. For some, it happens fairly quickly. For others, it takes years to prepare. It likely took years, or even decades, for you to get where you are. It may take years, or even decades, to get where you want to go.

So what? You will live those years anyway. Do you want to live a compelling life or a complacent life? Ultimately, no one can choose but you.


Planning for your career change may include figuring out how to create a career aligned with something that matters to you. A Behavior Style Profile is one way to get clarity about that. Contact Coach Sue at 949-212-4345 or email sue@threesquarescoaching.com  for details. Know someone who’s ready for a career change? Please feel free to forward this post to friends and colleagues.