Not happy with your career? Try something different

We are ultimately in control of what we do. Do not be scared to step down from your current mountain and try something different.

If you are anything like me, you transitioned through the education system and into an industry for your career. For me, that was working in education and sport. Now, I am lucky enough that I love sports and a career as a sports psychologist is something I enjoy. What I also believe is that I am more than just that (career-wise). It has taken me a long time to realise that I can try different and new careers. For so long I boxed myself into the belief that all I am good at is working in schools and sports. Whenever I have had the opportunity to change jobs or careers, I have run away from something different to stick with the safety that is the career I know.

I used to explain this as a rational decision. You know what to expect from these jobs and you know you are half decent at them. It would be stupid to try a different career. What happens if you don't like it? You won't like sitting in an office or working at a computer. These thoughts and beliefs have kept me on my current career path. I am still working in a school doing what I have done for the past several years. When I moved back home I could have tried something different. However, I went back to what was comfortable. Why didn't I try a sales job? A tech job? Something completely different? I was scared to climb down my mountain.

You see, we are all climbing career mountains. We choose a career or fall into a certain sector. We become educated, get a job and climb the career mountain in that sector. For me it was working as a teaching assistant, then part of the pastoral team and then part of the middle management team (Head of Year). I am currently still near the bottom of my sports career mountain. Too many of us choose the wrong mountain in the first place. It is not our fault, we just stumbled onto them. Some lucky people have it all figured out and know what career they want. They choose the mountain they want to climb. However, once we start climbing the mountain, the suggestion of climbing back down and choosing a new mountain to scale seems incredibly stupid to people. Why would I spend so much time in this sector scaling this mountain to then climb back down when I get halfway there? Well, what if the mountain over there was more enjoyable to climb? Bring you more fulfilment and happiness? Surely the hassle of climbing down isn't that bad?

I love technology. From gaming to the internet. I find it fascinating. I know I would have loved a job in this sector. I ignored this for the majority of my career life because I hadn't studied it at school, college or university. I was on a set path and too stubborn to divert from it. Even now I haven't looked at jobs in these sectors. The main difference now is my perception of this. I believe and am working towards enhancing my knowledge and skills in this industry. I have just started learning how to code and reading about the future of the internet. What have I discovered about this? It fascinates me. I find it enjoyable. I am reading a book about the future of the Internet and I have never read a book this fast before.

This all stemmed from me becoming willing to open up to different experiences and accept being a beginner. I understood I would have to start again if I were to change careers. I am happy and willing to do that. I came to the realisation that I don't want to be climbing a mountain that will lead me to feel unfulfilled when I reach the summit. Become aware of the mountain and journey ahead and understand if this is the mountain you want to climb. Own that decision. Become aware and then decide. Remember, we all have the power to control the career path we take.