Career Myth 1: You can't make a living doing something you simply, truly love This is the grand-daddy of career myths, the belief that you can not have a "practical" career doing something that you were passionate about. It has to be one or the other. This myth is rooted in fear. Fear that we have to sacrifice our happiness to make a living. Don't buy the myth that you cannot earn a living by doing what you enjoy. When I first started coaching, I heard from a huge amount of people that it would be very hard to make a living doing this work. I just decided to discover coaches who were successful, and to learn from them (effortless, eh?). And if you find out yourself buying into this myth, consider this question - As you look back on your life, what will you regret more? Following your passion or following your fears? Career Myth 2: It is a tough job market/economy Even when the newspapers and other news sources say that unemployment numbers remain steady, that job growth is at a standstill, or that we're experiencing slow economic recovery, not to mention downsizing and outsourcing, don't believe it. It's a myth because it doesn't reflect the whole story, the fact that that it is a different job market today. It's a changing economy. How we transition from job-to-job is different. Hiring practices have shifted. So the job market has changed, but that doesn't necessarily make it tougher. What makes it tougher is that we've been slower to change. We've held on to old practices and old behaviors. That's not to say that old ways still don't work, but they really are just not as useful. So I challenge you to just believe that it's a perfect job market for you to find work. I've had my college students try this, just for a week, and, more times than not, several of them find job leads or make helpful connections during the week. Career Myth 3: Changing careers is risky What's riskier than leaving what you know to pursue the unidentified? Changing careers method leaving behind a piece of your identity - your "I'm a lawyer" response to the "what-do-you-do?" question. It might mean admitting to yourself that you made a mistake with an initial career choice. Or it might mean acknowledging that you might be unsure of what's next. And smart people always know what's next, right? Nope. Successful career changers often don't have a plan. In Working Identity: How Successful Career Changers Turn Fantasy into Reality by Herminia Ibarra, she provided evidence that waiting until you've got a plan is actually riskier than just doing and experimenting. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is riskier than not changing careers and if you could be longing to do so. Here's why: The longing won't go away. It will always be there, under the surface, waiting for you to take action about it. Career Myth 4: Always have a back-up plan Sometimes having a back-up plan is the smart and prudent course of action. Back-up plans are so grown-up and responsible. But what happens when you are standing with one foot in and one foot out? In my experience, we typically close the door and retreat. We are reluctant to commit to ourselves, and we end up denying ourselves the satisfaction of playing full-out, being able to get dirty and sweaty. We end up with feelings of regret and the nagging "What if?" question. Back-up plans diffuse our energy. Diffused energy equals diffused results. Provide all that you have got to your dream/passion/risk and you have a better chance of being successful. Career Myth 5: There's a perfect job out there for everyone How long have you been searching for yours? You just be aware of, deep inside, that there are an ideal job that's perfect for you out there. It matches your personality, skills, and interests to a tee. And it pays well. And if only you could figure it out. And if only you knew what it was. Is there a perfect job out there for you? No. And here's the good news - there's more positions than you can imagine that would be "perfect" for you. Chances are you've even come very, very close to a few of those perfect positions already. So what happened? And how do you recognize one of these so-called "perfect jobs"? Ever see the perfect gift for someone, but it was months till his or her birthday? Then when you go to find the item later, you cannot. Another lost opportunity and you, once again, berate yourself for not buying it when you first saw it. So perhaps you've run into a perfect job in the past, but due to timing, you passed by the opportunity. Or most likely you were so focused on something else, that you missed an obvious clue. Rather than dwelling on the past, which you can not change, vow to keep your eyes open and to look beyond the obvious. Career Myth 6: Asking "What's the finest thing for me to do?" is the right question This is one of the most common questions asked when considering a career change or a career move. It seems love a logical analysis - weigh the pros and cons and evaluate the balance. Do not ask yourself this question!! It rarely leads you to the answers you're seeking. It will lead you to feeling overwhelmed with possibilities (sound familiar?), or feeling like you've got to choose what's practical over what seems to be impractical. The question that will lead you to answers is easy (but not straightforward!!) It is "What do I simply wish to do?" This is a very different question than "what's best?" Career Myth 7: And if you don't love your job, you could be probably in the wrong career Cause and effect, right? One way to inform if you might be in the right career is whether or not you like your job. If you're dissatisfied with your job, it's perhaps a sign that you need to re-examine your whole career choice. This is repeatedly what I hear from new clients who have decided to work with a career coach. They be aware of something isn't right because they don't love their jobs. Their natural assumption is that their dissatisfaction is a symptom of a larger underlying issue - their career choice. This is an example of false logic. Not liking your job may very well be telling you you could be in the wrong job. It doesn't necessarily mean you could be in the wrong career. It does not even mean you might be in the wrong job. You could just be working for the wrong individual or the wrong company. It takes a skillful approach to discern the source of discontent, and I think it's very hard to do it on your own (shameless plug for career coaches here!) Career Myth 8: Everyone needs a mission statement Do you be aware of what your mission is? Mission statements are supposed to guide us, keep us on track, and help us move forward. But what if you don't have one? Does that mean you might be destined to never fulfill your potential career-wise? A client who was a successful professional contacted me because she was at a career crossroads. She felt that if only she could find her mission in life, she would know which career journey to take. She had a clear goal for coaching - find out her mission! Instead, the a lot of amazing thing happened. She decided that she didn't need a mission. She chose to trust that she was already fulfilling her mission statement, although she didn't know what it was. After the client shifted her focus from finding her mission to living her life, an amazing opportunity came her means and she pursued it. Here's a little tip: And if your mission statement is elusive, stop chasing it. Be still and let it find you. And in the meantime, keep living your life and see what happens. Career Myth 9: Expect a career epiphany When you see a link to "Find out Your Dream Job," do you immediately click on it to see what's there? Do you look at each "Top Ten Career" list out there to see if anything catches your interest? Do you know your MBTI type? And if you do, you could possibly be falling prey to the career epiphany myth. I'd love, like, love it and if a good number of my clients had a career epiphany that indicated to them, in crystal-clear terms, their next step. Instead, I see career "unfoldings" or a journey of discovery much more regularly. That is, being willing to not ignore the obvious, the pokes, the prods, and listen carefully to the whisper within. Yep, forget harp music and angels, for a lot of of us, the career epiphany is a quiet whisper. Career Myth 10: Ignoring your career dissatisfaction will make it go away Oh, and if only this worked in the long run!! Granted, it does work at first. When you find yourself beginning to question your career, you'll discover it's rather effortless to push the thoughts aside and pretend they aren't there. You know what I'm talking about: the "what ifs" and the list of regrets. Over time, the random thoughts become nagging thoughts. You spend more and more time daydreaming about opportunities. You build your list of reasons to ignore your growing career dissatisfaction:
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With clients in this situation, we work on identifying and challenging these fears. Sometimes the fear of change remains, but there becomes a greater commitment to living than to feeling the fear.
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