A key part of professional culture has become longevity and experience, which makes starting over a daunting idea, even if you know it’s the right move for you. Typically, people grow up with a general plan: go to school, start young in a profession of choice, and stick to it. Yet sometimes, whatever profession you manage to make a career out of isn’t always the right choice, leading to fear and anxiety about starting over from scratch. So what can you do?
Identify and Explore Your Feelings
The first step in starting over is accepting the risks and fear.
Of course, such a massive change in your life will affect your future, and it’s more than acceptable to feel anxious about your choices. Many people experience fear when leaving unfamiliar environments, outside of the professional realm. Exposing yourself to change is a hard feat to achieve, but there’s bravery in change. Rather than ignore those feelings of fear, you can use your fear to your advantage and really explore its causes. An example may be that you’re worried about whether you’ll be able to take on an unfamiliar role, but acknowledging this means that the underlying problem is identified, which is the first step in minimising the risks of such a change.
Preparation and Perspective
Being able to identify your fears about skill gaps will allow you to research education and training opportunities to fill those gaps and give you the confidence to start anew. These actions are the first steps of preparation for your new professional career.
If you’ve got an idea of where you would like to go, there are many places online to do your research and find what works best for you and your situation. Exploring additional education, training pathways, and specialised courses is a great way to gather information to start planning your next move while being well-informed. For example, if you’re looking to switch to a career in law, learning more about a Juris Doctor Australia online degree might help you gain insight into the academic journey ahead of you.
Connecting with those within the industry is also a great way to gain confidence and create relationships that may benefit you in future. Social media can also be a valuable avenue for this, and contacting workplaces about employment and advice is a great step towards getting your foot in the door of a new profession.
With an abundance of preparation and research, your perspective on such a move is key to managing your stress and fears of change. For example, viewing starting in a junior position as an opportunity to fine-tune your skills and to learn is something you could look forward to, rather than worrying about starting at the ‘bottom’ again.
Moving Toward Your New Profession
With a new perspective and research under your belt, the hardest step is often to actually take that leap into the unknown. Many find it hard to take on all these new tasks at once, making it almost impossible to move forward. But there’s no need to look so far ahead of the list of tasks you have to complete—here are some ways you can make this change manageable:
Short-Term Goals
Writing out a list of things you have to do is a great strategy for remaining organised, but it isn’t always the most effective if you set unrealistic deadlines and have poor time management. Giving yourself a day-to-day plan of tasks is a better way to get things completed than having a long list. Looking at a small list of manageable things to do in your day, rather than a long list of tasks that must be done in an undefined time, allows you to plan your day without anxiety, and even make time for fun events and social activities.
Breaking Down Big Tasks
There may be a giant task on your list that you just can’t seem to start because of how daunting it may seem; instead of procrastinating its completion, you can break it down. For example, completing all the important paperwork that comes with a new job can be a lot, but spreading out the task over a few days or just splitting up the major task into smaller individual jobs can make a huge difference.
Celebrating the Small Wins
Nothing about changing professions is undeserving of a celebration; overcoming your fears and pushing yourself into an unfamiliar environment is something many people can’t say that they’ve done. Doing something for yourself, like getting a nice dinner or just enjoying the company of your favourite people as a reward for your efforts, is a great way to keep an upbeat attitude going and give yourself what you deserve for bettering yourself.
Starting over in a new profession can be incredibly daunting, but it can also be rewarding. If you know you need a change and have a passion you want to explore, then starting over might be the best thing you’ve ever done.
