4 things that changing my career taught me
For those of you who are new around here, you might not know that I haven’t always been a coach. Until around 18 months ago I had a very different career, working in sales and marketing for big corporates and tech start-ups. On paper, my previous career was very successful - I was regularly promoted, I held lots of responsibility and I earned good money. But deep down, I never really felt happy - I knew that the work I was doing wasn’t my calling, and I knew that there was something out there that would feel more inspiring to me.
I spent around a year trying to figure out exactly what that thing might be. I had conversations with coaches and mentors, I read tonnes of books, I listened to endless podcasts, and eventually I landed on the very thing I get to do everyday - helping people to live their most joyful lives (whatever that means to them), via 1:1 coaching, courses and content.
It’s been almost a year now since I handed my notice in at my steady day job and got ready to change my career completely, and today I thought I’d share some things I’ve learnt in that time. And if you’re looking to make a career change of your own, come over and join the waiting list for Find Your Thing, my group programme designed to help you do just that!
It’s possible to find work that you truly love
I think the biggest thing changing my career has taught me is that it really is possible to find work that you love. I always used to think that people who talked about how much they enjoyed their jobs were exaggerating - I really did believe that work was supposed to feel a little bit miserable, and that you had to just put up with that.
But since putting the effort into figuring out what truly lights me up and building a career around that, I’ve realised that it doesn’t have to be that way - I genuinely look forward to getting stuck into my to do list each week, and that feels like such a privilege.
Our skills are more transferable than we think
One thing that always held me back from exploring a career change was that I hated the idea of being a beginner again. The further I got into my sales and marketing career, the more reluctant I was to even consider anything else, as I didn’t want to have to start building my experience from scratch.
However, what I’ve learnt over the last year or so is that our skills are way more transferable than we think. Sure, I’m in a completely different industry now, and I’ve definitely had to do some learning and growing, but I also still use skills that I developed in my previous career every single day.
Clarity quashes comparison
I’m not proud to admit this, but I used to suffer immensely with comparisonitis. I thought that the constant desire to keep an eye on what everyone else was up to was just part of my personality, but since finding clarity around what I want to do with my career, I’ve been able to wave goodbye to the green eyed monster.
Now that I understand what I want to do, I find it so much easier to stay in my lane. That saves me A LOT of energy day to day, but it also means that I can be a more supportive friend to my friends, ex-colleagues and business besties.
My mindset held me back more than my circumstances
For such a long time, I believed that I’d never be able to do work that filled me up AND make a decent living. I thought that the two things were mutually exclusive, and I used the fact that I needed a stable and secure income as a reason not to pursue my passions.
Now I can see that it was never my circumstances holding me back - it was my mindset. I let those limiting beliefs around money put me off from even trying, but once I started to question them and tackle them, I realised that those excuses were never real. I now make more money than I used to in my well paid corporate career - something past Sophie was convinced would never happen!
There you have it - 4 things that changing my career has taught me. If this post has resonated with you in some way or got you thinking about your own career change, come and join the waitlist for Find Your Thing. I’d love to help you find the clarity and confidence to go out there and start doing work that you truly love.
