Welcome back!
If you refuse to change it will leave you in chains. I’d like to help bust you out of those chains and stop saying “That’s the way we’ve always done it”.
Forbes says that at least 50% of people are unhappy with their jobs. Over half of America doesn’t like what they’re doing, to that I say “you’re not a tree, you can move on”. Life is so much better when you’re doing something that you love. In fact, my husband and I watch Family Feud before bed and I remember one of the questions that was asked to 100 Americans “On a scale of 1-10, how well do you think you’re compensated at work.” The number one answer….. ONE! People, this is insane, if you don’t like where you’re at, move on. If you feel like you deserve a raise, ask for one! Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that’s the one that is going to help you grow. One of the happiest moments in life is when you find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.
I personally do know how hard change can be. I can find myself to be very stubborn sometimes. However and this is a giant, however, I love change! A few years ago I was in a place in life that I didn’t think I knew how to escape from. I was in a relationship with someone I knew I couldn’t be with for the rest of my life. I kept thinking BUT he’s such a nice guy, I love his family, he makes good money. But there was always this lingering but in the back of my head, always saying, “but I think I don’t want to be here forever”. I didn’t want to be with him forever, I didn’t want the job I was in forever, I wanted out and I wanted to be happy. I was at a point in life where I would work, come home, eat and sleep. That was my life for the last two years of our relationship. I would start watching TV and fall asleep by 8pm when I was in my early twenties! I had no drive, I had no ambition, I had no idea what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but I knew this wasn’t it.
My brother had asked me if he could come live with me and my ex (we’ll call him T), I told my brother, Rex that I’d ask T what he thought about it. I pushed and I prodded for a yes, we lived in a three-bedroom house with only us living there. Heck, it was only going to be for a few months anyway. He reluctantly said sure. I remind T a week before that Rex was coming next weekend, he didn’t say anything to that… The day Rex shows up with his car full of stuff, T says “What is he doing here.” Needless to say, I felt like the worst person in the world (even though I shouldn’t have), when I had to tell Rex that T changed his mind. My brother was basically homeless, living on couches and Love Sac’s for the next few months at different people’s houses.
From this day on I started planning on leaving, how wonderful it would feel to not have to “ask permission” from anyone, how I could be my own person(well, find my own person), and live in a more positive space.
I will conclude this story by saying, he is a good human that made a bad decision and when you think “I wonder what life would be like without ____” It’s time to move on.
I know that you didn’t come here for relationship help, you came here for career help, but this was the changing moment in my life. This moment that I can remember so very vividly, changed my life. From this moment on, I became my own person, I found how I should live my life. It was a few months after this story that I actually left him, but in the meantime, I was building myself up, I was building up money and my career! I switched jobs before I left and ended up actually moving in with my Rex (after he bought a house) for about a year before purchasing my own home. While I was single, I would take every extra hour and find ways to better my position at work, or better myself. I took the time to find out what I wanted to do, and within that year I increased my wages from $15-25 in about a year’s time because I worked my butt off! I was craving the change from then on and I’ve never looked back. I broke my chains when I broke up with him. I broke my chains when I started working on me and where I wanted to go in my career.
Ok, enough storytime, I’m sure you’re wondering, how can this help me change? A mentor of mine Grace Rizza once told me “You’re smart if you learn from your own mistakes but you’re a genius if you learn from others mistakes” I’ve taken this to heart and I hope that these lessons can help you be a little more genius.
1- If after the learning curve, you still feel it’s not right…
2- You’re in it for only the money
3- You’re ashamed of telling people where you work
4- It affects your home life
5- It’s changing you, and not for the better
6- You watch the clock and clock out precisely at 5 pm every day
7- You always say TGIF, I’m so happy for the weekend
These are the chains you need to break free from. And here’s how you can start.
1-Build your resume and references(Hint hint, I have a course to help you with these! ;))
2- Start asking around for “a friend who doesn’t want to disclose her identity” for a career shift
3- Start finding connections through colleagues (if you want to stay in the same field)
4- Save money (I always feel more secure when I have more money in the bank!)
5- Tie up loose ends, finish tasks that you’ve been meaning to finish.
6- Start creating “How-To’s” for the person who will take your position. This will apply for smaller businesses or if you need to directly train your replacement. Also, it’s a really nice thing to do, always leave a place a little better than when you came into it.
7- Obviously, start sending resumes
Take these one-through-seven steps and start checking them off. Whether it takes seven weeks or seven months to find a new job, I will always recommend sticking with your job until you find a new job to replace your old job. For one, this looks much better on your resume and two, it’s easier on the checkbook. So whatever kind of a timeline you think that you’ll need, write down what weeks you’ll be doing what and actually do it, no one will find a new career for you. It’s your time to shine, it’s your time to step in the right direction. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.
And remember, if yesterday was a heavy day, put it down, you can’t pick it back up and continue anyways!
Thank you for listening, I’d also like to mention that…. (I’m hesitant (but happy) to even say this…) I’m offering my Career Elevation Course for $49 if you prepay. The course will be released on November 15th, and the price will never ever be $49 again. In this course, you will learn how to set yourself aside from the other resumes, update your references, cover letter, help with interview questions and even what you should wear to an interview. Complete with Amazon links to buy some of the clothing, seriously, there isn’t a course out there this complete, get in line now!
Stay tuned next Monday’s blog “Things not to say in an interview” and also the reasoning behind why you shouldn’t say them. Please subscribe if you like these podcasts to keep updated on all the latest career change help. Also, feel free to leave a comment to get your question answered!If you’d like to listen to this with a bit more detail, check out the podcast! https://anchor.fm/wendy-aldhamen/episodes/Its-time-for-a-change-e8jeck
