Home   >   Feature   >   How to Shift Careers Midlife and Thrive: 4 Simple Steps

How to Shift Careers Midlife and Thrive: 4 Simple Steps

By on December 9, 2023

By Jeanne Collins

Do you ever wonder if you are living your best life? Do you question if you are truly happy? Do you feel stuck and unsure about how to move forward?

If any of these questions resonate, I have a story for you.

At fifty-three, I am living my best life – mentally, physically and professionally. My only boss is me and I’ve never been more passionate about my work. But looking back to only three years ago, my professional life was in a very different place!

I was an advertising sales executive — a vice president — running a 40-person sales team for a public company. I had been in that career for 22 years and the term “golden handcuffs” definitely applied. I was a single mother, living in an expensive town with a big mortgage, unable to envision how I could leave my corporate job and still afford my lifestyle. I was under so much stress that it was mentally and physically aging me, but I did not feel empowered to make the changes that could improve my quality of life.

In January of 2020, right before Covid caused us all to retreat to our homes, I was fired. Until then, I had defined myself by that job: Who was I now, other than a female VP who got fired? I was angry, disappointed, and shocked.

Yet deep down, I was relieved. It put me at the crossroads I needed in my life to make major changes. It forced me to think about the life-work balance I needed for my mental and physical health, as well as how I wanted to spend my days while still making a living. Now that I’ve come out on the other side, I have a career that not only offers me better balance, but one I’m passionate about.

Let me share the 4 key steps I took to get there:

1. Work with an executive recruiter or career coach.

There is never any shame in seeking help from others. The more you talk to people about your struggles and dreams, the more help will come your way. Working with someone who specializes in career coaching can provide a roadmap to how to take your skills and transfer them into a different industry or career path.

2. Answer these important questions daily.

What do you find fulfilling?

What would make you happy to go to work every day?

Do you feel like your life’s purpose should be in line with your career?

Answering these questions over time forced me to think about how I wanted to feel about my job more than the tasks of the job itself.

3. Journal daily.

Journal daily about what your ideal job would look like. It is a free-flow brainstorm. Focus not only on what life would be like and what activities you would do in your job but how it might feel. For example, “My ideal job gives me real connections and helps me to change people’s lives for the better.” And “My ideal job lets me go to the gym during lunch.”

4. Read, learn, and journal on that, too.

Read as many books and articles as you can about how to find your passions and identify your core strengths. My favorite book was Comeback Careers by Mika and Ginny Brzezinski. This book helped me identify my core strengths, which I then journaled about to really dig into the all-important factor: Why. What was it about me that clicked with these traits? The act of journaling about my strengths helped me get out of my head and see myself in a more objective and positive light.

Following these four simple steps helped me to determine that I wanted to help people change their energy and feel good. I wanted to feel creative and connected too. I also realized I was going to need to work for at least the next twenty years – and that sounded like a long time! That was the same amount of time as my last two jobs combined. That meant there was time for an entirely new career ahead of me. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice it for something I didn’t really care about. So, I made my choice.

I was going to become an interior designer and start my own firm — and I did.

What is your next career going to be?

 

*******

Jeanne Collins is an award-winning interior designer who left the corporate world behind to find her true self through design and internal reflection. Her firm, JerMar Designs, works with executives and entrepreneurs, focusing on projects that combine sophistication and balance with inner and outer wellness. Winner of the 2022 Luxe Magazine Red Award, she was also recently nominated as an HGTV Designer of the Year finalist. She chronicles her journey and the approach that changed her life and work in her memoir, Two Feet In: Lessons from an All-In Life. Learn more at JerMarDesigns.com.

LinkedIn

About simply...woman!

We encourage spreading the message of knowledge and wisdom. We appreciate and thank our featured partners for their articles. All information provided on Simply…Woman online magazine is for reference only; the content is based on the authors’ experiences and therefore is not intended as a substitute to the services of a fully qualified professional. Although every reasonable effort is made to present current and accurate information, Simply…Woman makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information.