3 Important Actions for a Successful Mid-Career Change

Changing direction in the middle of your career can feel both exciting and daunting. A “mid-career change” means stepping away from the path you’ve been on for years and exploring a new role, industry, or way of working. But the decision to change often raises questions: Will my experience transfer? Am I too late to start over? How will this affect my financial security and my identity? These concerns are very natural, but they often hold people back. 

I have years of experience working with men over 40 to find a fulfilling career.

Here are Three Important Actions most people overlook when embarking on a Mid-Career Change

Mid-Career Change - Clarify your ‘Why’

Important Action #1: Clarify your “why”

Getting clear on your ‘why’ avoids false steps and knee-jerk decisions. 

It also avoids staying trapped in your current situation and never actually making a change. 

Both of these are common risks, and the costs of falling into these traps are high.

We have all heard stories of people that quit their high paying job to become a teacher, only to discover that the paperwork and lack of impact meant they hated that job too.

And many people are aware they should make a mid-career change, but are not clear on what fulfillment looks like. So they keep putting off taking the first step - and, as a result, become increasingly prone to burnout, anxiety and depression. 

Being clear on who you are right now and what’s important for you is hugely important when planning a mid-career change. 

With my clients, this is nearly always the first step we work on.

Here are three initial questions for you to consider:

• How clear are you currently about what is non-negotiable for you in the next stage of your career?

• How clear are you right now about what you want to be doing, who you want to be, and what you want to have?

• Visualise what a small, medium and large change would look like. Which one of the three options do you naturally want to walk towards? (This will tell you how big a change you are naturally gravitating towards).

Balancing Ambition with Pragmatism during a Mid-Career Change

Important Action #2: Be both Open-minded and Realistic

Being unhappy and unfulfilled can make you want to take drastic steps. 

But making such a big change might not be realistic or practical.

Making, or trying to make, a big change that doesn’t work out can be very costly - it can lead to lost time, lost savings and also lost confidence.

On the other hand, fear and lack of confidence can stop you from fully exploring all the options that might be open to you. So you end up setting your sights too close to what you are currently doing. This can lead to a poor compromise - where nothing much has changed around how you are feeling.

It is critical to be both open-minded and realistic when considering your options.

This means giving yourself permission to “dream” - to spend time exploring.

But after generating interesting options, you then need to stop dreaming and to be practical. 

Is it realistic? How long will it take? How can you test if this is what you want to do in a low risk way?

It is certainly true that the closer to home you are looking to move the easier and quicker it will be. 

But if you want to be happy and fulfilled, you may not have a choice except to make a bigger change.

As you think about your situation, which is the bigger risk for you?

Are you closing down potential options before you’ve had a chance to properly explore them? 

Or are you dreaming of a new future that is unlikely to ever become a reality?

With my clients we separate this into two stages. 

First the dreaming and brainstorming of options. Then the assessment of the options to make a decision on the way forward.

Mid-Career Mindset and Resilience

Important Action #3: Build Resilience and Mindset for Change

- Low confidence

- Limiting beliefs

- Fear and procrastination

- Lack of resilience

- Unhealthy boundaries 

All of these are common overlooked barriers for making a successful mid-career change.

It’s important to identify which of these barriers is in play for you, and to then be committed to working on it.

You wouldn’t run a marathon before spending months training and getting in shape.

It’s the same for making a career change.

You need to first get yourself fit for the journey ahead.

This is just as important as knowing what you want and where you want to get to.

For example - 

If you don’t believe you can make a successful career change, then you will struggle to overcome any adversity that comes up.

If you haven’t connected to your core strengths and achievements, then you won’t sell yourself well during interviews.

If you are always too busy, how will you find time to put in the work necessary to make the transition?

If you are fearful about taking the next step, you will always put it off and find something else to do.

Conversely, if you make yourself “fit and ready for change” you will find a way to overcome the obstacles and you will get where you want to go.

Consider these questions - 

Which of these barriers is holding you back?

How large an obstacle will it be for you to successfully switch careers?

What’s the first step you can take to work on this area?

You might not think you can make progress on these barriers, but I can assure you it is possible, and the results will definitely be worth it.

The Value of Coaching during Change

Do you want help navigating your mid-career change?

Book a free Discovery Call to discuss how to get clarity on your ‘why’ and your career options, and how to strengthen your mindset and resilience.

Author: Tim Storrie

-------------- About the Author: Tim Storrie

I'm an ICF-accredited career coach with an Oxbridge education, an MBA and a corporate background.

Drawing from my own mid-life experience of burnout and transition to a more fulfilling career - I help men over 40 with symptoms of burnout, and who are feeling lost and frustrated, to find a career that excites them by gaining clarity and confidence.

My coaching approach is both nurturing and challenging, and combines a structured, exercise-based approach with a focus on getting to the underlying heart of the matter.

Would you like to understand how career coaching can help you get clarity on a more fulfilling future?

Book a free Discovery Call at: https://www.timstorriecoaching.com/contact-me