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Why Should You Consider Career Reinvention?

Guest post by: Terri Levine

Article Overview: Career reinvention. What is it and why should it matter to you.

Why Should You Consider Career Reinvention?

In today's workplace, anything goes. There is no such thing as job security. Job hop is the new catch phrase. If you can't reinvent yourself, you can find yourself unemployed and unemployable. So right there is one very good reason why you should consider career reinvention... to enable yourself to find work!

For me, however, it goes much deeper than that. If you've read my book Work Yourself Happy, you'll know my take on job satisfaction and doing that which represents your passion. When we do what we love, it ceases to feel like work. Imagine being paid to do something you love to do! Life is so short and we spend most of it working, so it just makes common sense to be spending that valuable income earning time doing something you love and enjoy.

I am a real life example of this philosophy. In my earlier career life, something changed. Was it me? My job? The industry? A combination of all three? Regardless of the initial trigger, the result was unhappiness and lack of satisfaction and fulfillment on my part.

I tried to talk myself out of it. "How can I possibly be unhappy and dissatisfied with my life and job when twenty years into my career I have the big prestigious job and title and the big bucks?" But at the same time I was thinking, "But my life is consumed by my work and it is exhausting. I am sacrificing too much personal life and desires and I'm no longer self-satisfied."

One of my original goals in life was to create positive differences in people's lives. I became a speech-language pathologist, manager and executive and was realizing this goal. But then that option ended. In the health care industry it became constrained by the absolute necessity to create financial results and deal with reimbursement issues. The industry had traumatic lay-offs and salary and benefit reductions. I had to negatively impact the lives of the people I worked with by having to implement the layoffs and salary and benefit reductions. I hated it.

We were all stressed knowing that we could no longer do all we could for our patients. We were losing the gratification of benefiting the patients with our expertise. Finances dictated the level of care.

I knew I had to make a career change. But there were so many questions, so many obstacles to the change. I turned to a personal coach to guide me thorough the exploration and to a final conclusion. The coach helped me to identify what it was I'd really want to do, and then helped me navigate the obstacles. I couldn't have done it so easily on my own. I faced twenty years invested in the industry; and was giving up a very substantial income and a prestigious position, not to mention leaving the people I cared about who I worked with. I was giving it all up to become a coach myself!

How did I know if this new career was really what I wanted? Was it as right for me as I then believed? To eliminate all doubt, I eased into it slowly by doing it part time while I retained my job and then when I was 100% convinced, I took the leap (much to my family's horror!)

Yes! It was and still is 100% right for me! I became instantly re-energized! I was back to being my old, happy self. I was full of confidence that this change was right for me and would enhance my life and again, I was right.

Move forward to today... I still have energy, passion, happiness, balance and enthusiasm... AND I am still making the positive impact on other's lives as was always my career objective. Furthermore, I am able to make a profitable living from it. I certainly don't regret my career reinvention.

So, ask yourself the important questions and then start your own journey, if necessary, to reinvent your own career.

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Article Tags: career, career reinvention, employment, entrepreneur, job, job satisfaction



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