Do you play the piano? I don’t, but what if I wanted to start? My mid-twenties isn’t too late to try something new, is it?
Of course not.
What about ten years from now? or even twenty or thirty? Too late pick pick it up?
Still no.
In fact, there’s nothing stopping me or anybody else from learning a new skill at any stage in life. If I started learning to play the piano today and stuck with it, I’d be a great pianist by my mid-thirties. Thinking back, I’d say to myself, “Man-oh-man am I glad I took a leap and went for it ten years ago.”
Do what makes you happy, right?
What some millennials fail to realize is that this applies to career choices as well. Wasting away in a job that just isn’t the right fit doesn’t have to be your reality. Don’t get caught in the “I majored in X in college and now work in X industry and have to follow this path for the rest of my life” trap.
It isn’t real.
Just as nobody is stopping you from taking your first acting class or flying lesson, nobody is preventing you from veering off the path you initially chose for yourself and making a career change.
So, what’s the big roadblock then?
No family, no kids, no mortgage – the change should be a cinch. Unfortunately, for those of us early in our careers I think it’s something completely different: the fear of falling behind.
While peers are finally starting to earn raises, promotions, new cars and nice apartments, you’re going back to the drawing board, facing another entry-level position and possible educational loans.
The realities of making a change can be tough to swallow, but they may also be worth the sacrifice.
Consider the following points:
1. You’ll be less successful doing something that doesn’t make you happy
While the idea of taking on new projects, getting promoted and slowly but surely moving up in your current position is enticing, it’s much more likely to happen if you’re doing something you love. That motivation to go the extra mile and do the things necessary to achieve greatness in any job is far easier to come by when you’re truly engaged. If you aren’t, everything is just a TPS report.
Think ten years down the road. Will you ultimately be more successful doing something else? Can you see yourself making equal progress in your current job/industry?
2. Better now than later
Recently, during a conversation about life and careers, a colleague explained to me the difficulty he’d have making a big change. With a spouse, a mortgage and kids on the way, he said he’d have to stay where he is for the time being rather than follow a different path.
You don’t.
Although you may be gradually accumulating more responsibilities than you had college, you’re still relatively unbound by the chains of adulthood compared to the you of 2020. Whether it ends up being the right decision or the wrong decision, making the move toward a more fulfilling career is probably going to be easier now than at any other time in your life.
3. You can make money doing anything
Investment bankers make a lot of money. Money is important to you. Does this mean you should be an investment banker? Unless you do, in fact, want to go into investment banking, then no. What if you’re creative, or wild, or a tech geek. Focus on something that actually interests you and the money will come.
For example, I know a personal trainer in his mid-twenties that owns a health food franchise, trains clients, writes health articles and moonlights as a fitness model – he makes an incredible living focusing on his love of health and fitness.
Some paths to riches are more apparent than others, but that doesn’t mean you can’t uncover your own. Keep this in mind if money is a big motivator for you.
4. Comparing yourself to others is poison
So what if Joe Smith has made a great life for himself as a lawyer? Who cares if Sally the advertising exec just got the big account and loves her job? It doesn’t affect you, and it doesn’t mean you should try to do the same thing. You’re path to happiness has to be your own, and comparing yourself to others is bound to make you unsatisfied and unhappy.
Success happens when you forget about outward appearances and decide what’s right for you.
Getting from today to your goal can be a long hard road. Part of that road might even require you to stay put for the time being.
Not to worry. You’ll learn from the journey and be better for it in the end. Besides, if you’re too comfortable, you’re probably doing something wrong.
