So You Think You Can’t Afford a Career Change
| I’ve heard from a ton of you who feel you need a break when it comes to finding the money to change careers. While you don’t need to hit the jackpot to make your dream change a reality, you do need to re-frame how you see your career change happening in the first place.Most people get stuck on the money issue when it comes to changing careers because they imagine the transition happening all at once. It doesn’t work that way. Trying to go from where you are to where you’d like to be is a big undertaking and won’t happen in one fell swoop! So give yourself a break and start taking these manageable steps that will allow you to afford the career AND life you dream of.
1. Eliminate unnecessary expenses from your current lifestyle. Do you know where your money is going every month? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed about having enough monthly income in the future when you don’t have a clear picture of how you’re spending today’s money. Start tracking your expenses and eliminating those items that you don’t really need or want. Easy places to start would be canceling magazine subscriptions you could do without, reducing your cable bill (are you really watching ALL of those channels?), ending your gym membership and taking advantage of local parks, and eating out half as often. 2. Make a plan to pay down your debt. Unsecured debt is a huge drain-financially and emotionally-and makes it very difficult to go through a large transition like a career change. Create a plan to eliminate it even if takes you years to do so. Once you start paying it off you will undoubtedly find yourself paying it down more quickly than you thought as you begin to see yourself making a dent in it. I know. I’ve been there! 3. Open a dream savings account. With the money you’re saving from eliminating expenses and paying off your debt, open a savings account to fund your transition. Having a buffer to back you up will give you a tremendous amount of peace of mind. Even if you’re saving $20 a month–that’s $20 more than you had saved yesterday! 4. Keep asking yourself what this career change is worth to you and act accordingly. As time goes on, continue to scrutinize your expenses. Go through a process of always asking yourself, “Would I rather have this (sweater, shoes, manicure, new iPhone, expensive home) or work in my dream career?” Whether you choose the “thing” or the career, live in integrity. In other words, be sure you’re consciously choosing one over the other because that is what is important to you. Ultimately, this will be the underlying frame of mind you will need to have in order to financially make your career change a reality! © 2007 Segaric Coaching Inc.Annemarie Segaric is a respected career change coach, motivational speaker, and the author of the ebook, 107 Tips for Changing Your Career While Still Paying the Bills. Ready to switch careers and don’t know where to begin? Visit www.segaric.com and download your own career change toolkit today. |
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