Pivot

Pivot will give you the confidence you need to change careers by showing you how to prepare by examining your strengths, working with the right people, testing ideas, and creating opportunities.

I remember clearly the fear and panic I had as I finally admitted that I wasn’t happy with Civil Engineering and needed to change.

You might be having some of these same emotions as you realize it’s time to shift things up. Take a deep breath, remind yourself that this is normal, and start preparing by examining your strengths and finances.

Investigate what you’re good at from past evaluations, jobs, or experiences. You’ll quickly realize that you’re not starting over but that your expertise is a solid foundation to build on.

As I did this I realized I was excellent at writing. I’d always received good grades in writing classes, loved doing it, and could type exceptionally fast. I also discovered that I had almost four years of teaching experience I could build on!

Next, you’ll need to look at your finances to make sure you can still make ends meet throughout the process. Make a plan to cover your basic costs for however long you think your pivot will take. You might save money or do what I did and start a company, which I’ll explain in the next lesson!

Habit one of The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People is to be proactive. This means you’re always taking personal responsibility for your situation and seeking to improve it instead of blaming others or remaining idle.

If you want your career transition to be successful, you’re going to need this habit throughout the whole process. The good news is, if you’ve compiled a list of your strengths, you’ll have some great starting places!

My career shift started when I was at my old job as I began looking for ways I could create opportunities then started examining my strengths.

Looking at the numbers, I realized that I could make the same amount of money and cut my workday by over 75% if I did what I was doing at my day job on my own.

So that’s what I did and it’s helped pay the bills while I’ve worked on getting my writing career off the ground! I’ve also never stopped getting to know my talents better. I’ve always looked for opportunities to utilize them to create new opportunities.

This led me to discover Medium.com and begin writing there. 200 articles later I had opportunities coming to me left and right, and not long afterward became the managing editor here at Four Minute Books!