I’m often told, “I could never do what you do.” The truth is, I never thought I could either. And yet today, you’ll find me building a business (and a new career) around work I enjoy and creating the flexible lifestyle I desire. But it wasn’t my original plan.
For a long time, I pursued a career that my doe-eyed 16-year-old self ominously decided upon all those years ago. Whilst I often felt unfulfilled by my choice, I was trapped in the cycle of accomplishments, accolades and acquisitions to ever want to break free.
It took becoming a redundancy refugee during the GFC for me to take charge of my future, choosing to do more of what I love in order to bring more meaning to my life. But trading certainty for the unknown can be incredibly daunting.
How do you really know if changing career or creating your own lifestyle business is the right thing for you?
One approach would be to ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I really want this? Why?
2. Are you prepared to move out of your comfort zone? Are you willing to do things you’ve never done before?
3. What are you willing to give up or sacrifice in order to succeed? What things will you gain by pursuing what you want? Consider things like income, lifestyle, time, family, and sense of purpose. How do you value these things?
4. What skills do you possess to make this happen? What skills will you have to learn? Are you willing to retrain, informally on the job or formally at college/university?
5. Are you self motivated? How willing are you to make connections and seize opportunities?
6. Are you resilient? How do you cope with setbacks? Are you good at problem solving and adapting to move forward? Do you know when to push and when to quit?
7. Are you able to work independently? Are you resourceful?
8. Have you spoken to people already working in the industry? What are their thoughts on the good, bad, barriers, perks?
9. What support do you have? Can you turn to friends, family and professional networks to help you? What finances and resources do you have?
10. Is what you’re thinking of doing feasible? Can you succeed? Do you have a sensible, marketable, sustainable, and financially rewarding idea?
Another approach would be to bypass contemplation and just dive in blind, which is what I did. Sometimes, you just have to trust your instinct and give things a go – it’s the only way to assess if it’s for you.
I’ve learned that you can never be prepared for everything that happens. However, if you continually evolve and adapt to situations, you can give yourself some control over how you’ll tackle the next challenge.
The trick is to not make judgement calls about what’s right or wrong throughout the process. If you make a mistake or don’t get the result you are after initially, it doesn’t mean that you’ve failed. Rather, you’ve just discovered more information that can help you to move forward.
Finding the inspiration to do something is not difficult; it’s finding the courage to follow through that can be elusive. So do what feels right for you and you’ll soon forget about being nervous.
Miss T Tonic has changed careers and established businesses. A strategist, designer and creative tactician, she spends her days taking great ideas and turning them into reality at Howl Communications and producing thought provoking posters at Style to a T.
