I wanted to do this so many times at work

“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” - Confucius

Sounds great doesn’t it? But for many, it is but a dream. And the reality is, they are stuck in a rut and can’t find a way out.

A recent study showed that 50% of the UK population are unsatisfied with their jobs. That’s a lot of unhappy people out there. And though I often caution around stats, you only have to look at the faces of people on public transport in the morning to see how miserable they are and how they are dreading going to work.

We spend most of our time at work. If you are unhappy in your work, the chances are you are unhappy in your life.

Many people are in denial about this and try and blot out the reality of this on weekends, by getting trashed and then starting the whole cycle again, week after week. But it doesn’t have to be like this, really it doesn’t!

I was one of those people. Do you know what finally pushed me to changing my career? Somebody I was very close to died, my Granddad.

I realised that this life of mine is finite and will end at some point and if I was going to achieve the things I wanted in life, then I had to start taking action, not tomorrow, but now. I always think of this quote:

“A dream without action is a delusion” – Daisaku Ikeda.

I always wanted to be a designer of some sort. But I couldn’t see how this was possible. I had a background in science and IT and I was a project manager. Then I remembered the Eulogies dedicated to my Granddad. He touched the lives of so many people through is art, which was also his career. And I thought to myself. “I have to do it, I have to become a designer”, this was who I was and I had been avoiding it for years.

Granddad, the inspiration for my career change, teaching at one of his art classes

Granddad, the inspiration for my career change, teaching at one of his art classes

But how was I going to do this? I was 31, with no background in design. I had to come up with a plan. After doing some research, I decided that I wanted to go on a vocational graphic design course, but it costs money. I worked out how much I would need to save to go on this course and that it would take me 2 years to save it up. I then resigned from my job and went freelance with the sole aim of raising the money. And that’s what I am doing now.

But just because I wont be in college for another 2 years, doesn’t mean I can’t do stuff in the meantime. So I started this blog, I look for inspirational design resources on twitter, I design anything I want in my spare time and go to museum and galleries to ‘fill the creative well’ with ideas, to name but a few things. And you know what? I love it, it feels good.

There a lots of common fears around switching career and I would like to dispel some of these:

“Its too late”

Who said its too late? You? Your colleagues? That’s a lie, you have more to lose not doing it that trying to do it.

“I cant afford it”

Not true. Who said you had to go on a training course, you may be able to get free training through a position that opens up, you could restructure your finances, change your spending habits, get a lucky break. If you really want it, you will be creative enough to find a route.

“I don’t have enough time”

Not true. Find time for it. Get up an hour earlier everyday and design for example, give yourself that time. Clear some time on a weekend, take another look at your schedule and priorities.

“Im not good enough”

Who said that? You? Listen to what other people have to say about your abilities, look at people who are good. Do you think they have always been successful? It took practice and many defeats before they got to where they did.

“I will be poor if I become x”

That doesn’t have to be the case, there are many people who are creative, for example, and get paid very well for what they do. And surely its more abundant to do something you love, then get paid loads for something you don’t and fritter your money away, trying to make yourself happy.

“I wont be able to do my current job whilst I try and switch career, I will lose interest and struggle”

Not true. Since I have realised what I want to do and that I am taking action, I have started really enjoying being a Project Manager, as I am not so attached to the role anymore. Its less stressful and I now want to be the best Project Manager I can be before I make my switch to being a designer. I feel liberated.

“I will be criticised for doing it” 

That may be the case, and I have experienced this myself, but I often find the people that do that, are the ones that denied themselves their dream. Use that to show that you can and will do it.

“There are too many obstacles”

The obstacles are often only what you perceive. Tap into your true self and use whatever resources you can to support you. Let go and trust the process, take small steps everyday and you will be surprised what opportunities will arise.

The hard part is knowing what you want to do 2in the first place.

“What if I don’t know what I want to do?”

Do your research.

By doing research you are not committing yourself to anything, you are just researching. The best form of research is talking to other people. Think of someone you know who has an interesting job, speak to them about what they do and how they got there.

You might ask yourself, who is going to want to talk to you about their job? Well, the answer is. most people are more than happy to do so. People love talking about what they do. I’ve done this many times and it’s got me to where I am today and changed my life.

So the question is, what are you going to do next? What’s stopping you?

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