Have you ever said, “I don’t want to go back to what I was doing.” It may be time for you to reflect and consider what may be better for you—and to honor why you want something more—now that you’re a mom. Take a few moments to listen to that little voice inside of you saying, “I want more for more children; I want more for my family, and I want more for myself.”
To which I say, “Hooray! Get it, girl!” We all have goals, dreams, and wants and embarking on motherhood can bring the timeline of your life into greater focus. Perhaps you are not as far as you wanted to be by now, or maybe you’ve been doing the same thing for way too long. It’s okay. Those feelings are as justifiable and real as the 500th diaper you are changing, and they need to be attended to so your life satisfaction doesn’t get a big irritating rash.
If motherhood has become an identity wake up call it might be time for you to make a change to your career. But how?
Be real with yourself about your dreams, even if they are big and scary.
Sit down with some paper and let yourself free write about what it is you want. This can be far-fetching, unrealistic, and very far from where you are in your career right now. Have the intention to let yourself be real and unbounded about what you want.
Set your non-negotiables.
What matters? Not What matters to the people around you? What matters to YOU?
- What does work-life balance look like?
- What does your relationship with your kids look like?
- What does your relationship with your spouse look like?
- What do your leisure time and friendships look like?
- What would you include in your ideal day?
These questions may seem outside of decisions around your career but the places outside of your career are great places to use as a guide when considering what kind of change you want to make. What this period of self-inquisition does is help you take into consideration the types of careers that could fit into the best life you can imagine for yourself right now. It sets constraints for your overall happiness derived only from when your career supports your ideal life. And, who doesn’t want that? The thing is, it doesn’t happen without intention. So, list it out…
- Available for the kids’ field trips
- Time to work out
- Time for self-care
- Weekly date-nights
…your list may look different than this one (as it should) but what’s important is that you include what is important to you so that you can set the tone for monetizing a life that you want in a career that compliments the person you are today and the person you want to be.
Set your course.
Now you know what you want, at least sort of. But, you may have not named your new career yet. As humans, we have a tendency to want to self-identify ourselves and sometimes that leads to us feeling overwhelmed, further leading us to feeling indecisive and stuck.
Instead, focus on what has to happen right now. You probably need to make some money and you would probably like to feel good about what you are doing. So, what makes you feel good that can make you money? Use your big dream and your non-negotiables to help guide your course and be okay with not having your fancy new job title ready to print on flashy new business cards. It’s okay to start with a period of discovery and refinement before you go all in and announce the new you. You may not know the entire roadmap of your new career but all you need to focus on right now if figuring out your next step so that you can allow yourself to evaluate if your new direction feels like a better fit than the one you are leaving behind.
Taking the first step in a new direction can be scary and changing careers is not as easy as an afternoon of reflection. You’ll likely come up against needing to learn new skills and prove yourself in your new chosen industry and that can be a daunting but ultimately rewarding task. Focus on taking the first intentional step towards a change in your career knowing that this desire to change careers is your inner wisdom guiding you toward a life where you can be more of yourself. When you are 100% you, everyone benefits!
