How to Find Your Direction and Why It Matters for Career Change

Have you ever had the “anywhere, but here” feeling? You’re sitting at your desk, looking at your computer, and thinking – “I’m meant for something different.” Then you imagine yourself in a new job…you wake up ready to start your day, you feel your best, and you’re doing something that you feel you were meant to do all along. But you think hard about what you want to do and your mind goes in a million and one directions. Honestly, I think one of the most challenging obstacles for career change is uncertainty – and the uncertainty of what you want to do is no exception. After trying the “apply to anything and everything and go with whatever lands then figure it out” method of career change, I’m here to say…I wish I had paused earlier to find my direction.

Find your direction as a soon-to-be career changer

Maybe you’re a person who needs to follow your passion. Or maybe you’re a person who wants to live out your purpose through your career. Maybe you’re a person who wants a job that you do well, one that allows you to afford your lifestyle. Me…I think I’m a mixture of all three. Regardless, no matter which type of person you are, establishing your direction can help you on your career change journey. 

It’s natural to feel a little fear or hesitancy when trying to make decisions about what to do next. Your career(s) thus far hasn’t worked out, so how can you be sure about the next one? The answer – you can’t be and that’s okay. 

Free yourself from the pressure of having your next career be “the one.” Your career isn’t a destination. Instead, your career is about the process of learning, growing, and contributing to the world. So, finding your direction doesn’t necessarily mean that you have every decision mapped out until you reach your career. Rather, when you find your direction, you make decisions that give you the opportunity to learn and to grow into better versions of yourself.

To help you find your direction, let’s begin with understanding how your experiences shape the direction you go.

Your experiences are valuable. Take the time to learn from them.

When you make the decision to change your career, you’re not starting from square one. You’ve worked a job or two or three. Your job(s) showed you a taste of who you are in this working world. They taught you what you do and don’t enjoy, what you do and don’t do well, and what you do and don’t want in your next career. 

Before launching into my career change journey, I spent my days in education. Sure, I learned that I wasn’t meant to spend the rest of my life teaching. But the lesson didn’t stop there. I realized that I loved it when I got to be creative. As an educator, I enjoyed designing learning experiences and projects. I was good at thinking about how my students would interact with my course materials and often spent hours making them better. This also made me realize that some of my frustrations with work were due to a lack of creative freedom. Different constraints and mandates made it more and more difficult to create.

While I could view my time as an educator as a waste, I choose to remember it with gratitude. Not only did I meet some incredible people, I also was given a huge clue that helped me find my new direction. The Clue: Creativity brings me joy. So, I need a career that allows me to be creative and inspires me to create daily. 

To find your direction, reflect on your experiences. Ask yourself questions like:

• What parts of your career bring you joy?
• What do you do well?
• What parts of your career frustrate you?
• What do you hope for in your next career?

Reflection helps focus your career exploration

If you’re thinking you could skip the reflection and jump straight into exploring your options, think again! When I first started my career change, I did exactly that and I felt overwhelmed. I thought if I laid out all of my options, something would click. But I was wrong.

So, I applied to different jobs. I figured I would narrow down my options by seeing which job worked out for me. But as you probably guessed, I received rejection after rejection with no options forward.

Reflection is a huge part of finding your direction. It helps you choose a path forward that isn’t going to lead you to more frustration. You get to understand your wants and needs so that you can explore the options that align best.

Continue to find your direction through experimentation

Finding your direction means that you’re making decisions that provide you with opportunities to learn and grow. 

1. When you reflect, you learn what you need and want in your career.
2. When you explore options that align with your reflections of past experiences and the person you are today, you learn about the opportunities that are best for you.
3. When you experiment, you learn new skills, you see how you like a certain type of work, you can decide whether you want to continue going in the same direction or change directions, and you grow closer towards the person you’re meant to be.

We can stay stuck in our comfort zone, being afraid to take a step forward and always wondering if we were meant for different. Or we can step out and try new things. There’s courage in being a beginner. And the more you dedicate yourself to trying something different, the more confidence you will build over time.

The steps that you take during this time will help you find your direction. You’ll feel encouraged to seek out different opportunities and when you find something that you truly want to pursue, you’ll have experiences that can support you on your path.

Why finding your direction matters as a career changer

So, gone are the days of trying to appeal to everyone and feeling discouraged by every rejection. There are reasons those jobs aren’t working out.

No matter how hard I had tried to craft a beautiful explanation as to why I wanted the job that I was applying to or interviewing for, my mind was almost always blank. Sure, I was making attempts to feel unstuck, but in the process, I was neglecting my interests, needs, and desires.

Now, that I’m experimenting with my creativity and finding opportunities to learn new skills, I feel energized. I wake up feeling excited to find where the day takes me and I end each day feeling full of potential. This is a feeling that encourages me to keep going. And I’m taking it as a sign that I’m headed in the right direction.

So, as you jump into your career change journey, I encourage you to reflect, explore, and experiment too. I promise it’s worth it to find your direction. And if you want a little extra guidance, download my FREE Career Change Clarity Guide. I’m sharing a more detailed look at the steps you can take to discover your next career and am guiding you through the process.