Best 6 books to help with career change

  1. The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

    Reading this book, for the first time in my life I started to consider a life where you don’t have to put up with being chained to a desk doing work you don’t want to do.

    I was going through a particularly bad patch in my previous job, in around 2007. At this time, my favourite running joke with a friend on my team was that I was digging an escape tunnel under my desk, à la The Shawshank Redemption.

    Just about every lunch break I’d go for a walk, feeling desperate, head to the nearby Waterstone’s bookshop on Oxford Street, and scan through the books to somehow try to find answers to the questions I had whirling around in my head. What am I doing with my life? Why do I feel miserable? What can I do to make it better? The title jumped off the shelf at me.

    I’d pop in again and again to read a bit more each day. One day I finally made the purchase – one of the best decisions I’ve made. I still refer to this book, a decade later.

    Tim was one of the first to write about ‘lifestyle design’, shunning the typical idea of working 9-5 in an office doing a job you don’t like and waiting until you retire to do all the fun stuff you dream of – and instead finding ways to incorporate these things (learning, travel, adventure, entrepreneurship) into your present day.

    How did it help me?

    It inspired me to dream of a life where I’m not wishing my time away until my next holiday, where I decide what I want to do, how I want to live my life, and then find a way to make that a reality. To not put off dreams until later in life, dreams such as living abroad and learning a new language. I’d previously lived in France, and promised myself that I’d live abroad again, one day. See what happened here.

    Tim has written several other books, all great, but this is definitely my favourite. He also has an amazing podcast, the Tim Ferriss Show, where he interviews seriously impressive guests (Tony Robbins, Richard Branson, Seth Godin) about their ‘tactics, tools and routines’ for being mega successful – I’m obsessed.

  2. How To Stop Worrying And Start Living by Dale Carnegie

    King of self-help, Dale Carnegie, wrote back in the 40s and 50s about implementing small habits and behaviours that improve your life. As someone who had always considered myself ‘a worrier’, this is a book I looked to for reassurance. (I found it on my parent’s bookshelf one day.) Perfect title! It was exactly what I needed at the time, constantly worrying about what I was doing with my life and not knowing what to do about it.

    In this book Dale teaches us how to face worry head on, providing different techniques for handling it. For example focussing on today’s actions rather than worrying about tomorrow’s; analysing your worry by getting all your facts together about a situation, writing them down, then analysing them impartially, coming up with several solutions, and then making a clear decision and taking action.

    How did it help me?

    Amongst many other tips he gave me the realisation that your optimum state should be to be as relaxed and calm as a sleeping kitten. Feeling tired, tense, and anxious, is a habit. Relaxing is a habit.

    Imagine picking up a sleeping kitten, they’re all soft and floppy. Like a crumpled sock. That’s how your body should feel. Soft, relaxed, calm. First reading this at a time when my back and neck were constantly tense and uncomfortable due to feeling stressed and sitting at a computer screen all day, this was a revelation. And something I try to remember.

  3. Be Your Own Life Coach by Fiona Harrold

    I also found this book on a bookshelf at my Mum and Dad’s, I still have no idea how it got there. The cover is kind of cheesy. But I love it. It’s full of little pink post-it notes highlighting the pages I like to refer to.

    Fiona starts off talking about not going through your life with regrets, about doing the things you dream of. She talks about how your beliefs and outlook effect the rest of your life, and you need to make subtle shifts in your thinking if you want to make changes. It’s all about creating your ideal life, and building your confidence to make it happen.

    Fiona encourages you to take control of your life, don’t put up with a so-so life, strive for more. It’s as though you have this person to hold your hand saying, “You can do this. You are absolutely equipped to deal with anything that comes your way.”

    How did it help me?

    It’s a really reassuring read, with case studies showing how people have transformed their lives by learning to follow their intuition, believe in themselves, and give something new a try. It encouraged me to stop making excuses and aim to live the life I want. The focus on building self-reliance and self-worth is inspiring, especially as someone who had lost confidence in my abilities.

  4. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers

    This is one of those books I’d pick up in the library when I was feeling totally lost and needed all the help and reassurance I could get.

    It’s all about taking action to get rid of the feeling of fear, rather than letting it fester and grow. Everyone’s scared of different things, all the time, and that’s not going to change. But you can practise facing the fear, doing whatever it is you are scared of that is stopping you from living your life as you want to.

    It’s like building a muscle, the more often you face your fears, the easier it gets. You get used to getting out of your comfort zone, and dealing with whatever comes your way. 

    How did it help me?

    The stand-out point for me is on tackling indecision and paralysis. When making a decision, you can take path A or path B – both are the best path to take. You’ll never be able to 100% predict the outcome. Deliberating, hesitating, over-analysing and not making a decision, all comes down to fear, and stopping yourself from taking action.

    Take path A and great things can happen. Take B and great things can happen. There is no wrong decision. Even if the path you take doesn’t pan out as you had hoped, you can correct your path as you go.

  5.  Working Identity by Herminia Ibarra

    I read this book around the time I left my previous job. The book focuses on the commonalities will all have in career change.

    You will go through a potentially tricky transition period. Read more about it here.

    You don’t have to immediately move on to the job you’ll have for the rest of your life. Take the pressure off.

    Test the next thing out, staying open-minded. It’s all part of the process.

    You’re shedding the skin of your previous work identity, maybe you’ll have to shed another one before you find something that fits.

    How did it help me?

    It was comforting reading about high achieving MBA types and rather than feeling inferior, taking comfort that we’re all the same, we all go through the same issues.

    Herminia’s words are encouraging; if you change career there will be a transitional period, it won’t always be smooth, but if you can accept that and just keep moving forwards, you’ll do ok.

  6. This Year Will Be Different by Monika Kanokova

    I read this book a few months after I had left my job of 10 years and was figuring out what I wanted to do next. One thing I knew was that I wanted to work differently. I didn’t want to work in a corporate environment or in a big office anymore. And  I wanted to do work I was actually interested in.

    I love this book as it’s basically a series of case studies where the author interviews interesting women who are doing interesting work, mainly freelance or have started their own businesses.

    The ones that really caught my eye were location independent. As someone who loves languages and has lived abroad before, I found this book so inspiring, reading about women from around the world, living where they want, finding a way in which to work to support this.

    To read the details of how someone makes this kind of lifestyle work for them was truly inspiring. And surprise surprise, my work is now location independent, working either from home, a co-work space, cafes or at my parent’s when I’m back to the UK visiting.

    How did it help me?

    Reading about people who are living their lives in a way that interested me was an eye-opener. Having spent my whole working life up until then working in offices, this opened up a world of different possibilities.

    I started to imagine myself doing something similar. From there, I started to figure out how I could do the same, and look out for opportunities which would allow me to live in this way. Seeing what is possible is the first step.

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Salsa for Beginners (or Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone)

“Let yourself go!” he shouts. “One, two, three” pause “six, seven, eight.” “Enjoy it!” he barks. “One, two, three” pause “six, seven, eight.” My young dance partner twirls me round and somehow whacks me on the head in doing so. We burst out laughing as we struggle to keep going in time to his muttered counting. Our bald, tanned, swivel-hipped, all-in-black teacher Carlos continues his commands as we step and sway.

It’s a typical Monday night at my local salsa class. Twenty of us are partnered up in a circle in a bright, mirrored, dance class, focussed and intent. When I first moved to Valencia a year ago, doing a regular salsa class with the hope of one day being able to go to a salsa club and actually dance with people (rather than cringe, freeze, turn down the gallant dancers eager to whisk me to the dancefloor) was top of my wish-list.

I spent a month in Cuba a couple of years ago and was entirely seduced by the way people could dance there, from tiny children moving fluidly to dignified smartly dressed 90-ear olds; and particularly the beautiful, self-possessed twenty-somethings who made salsa dancing cool, in their casual denim shorts and trainers, dancing with ease and throwing in Michael Jackson style swoops in a balmy outdoor club overlooking the sea.

Being vulnerable, letting go…

My beginner’s classes started a couple of months ago, and although I had done some one-to-one classes in Cuba, this was the place for me. I’d been to a huge, popular salsa club earlier in the year, and had been too intimidated to dance. I’d forgotten how to move and felt seriously self-conscious. I needed to start from scratch.

And I am learning. These lessons are in Spanish. My Spanish is getting there but still, I sometimes struggle with the listening part. (“Preparados?” Sure, I’m ready…) Half the time I have no idea what my teacher or dance partners are saying to me. I just smile and laugh. I feel uncomfortable, vulnerable, exposed. But, these classes are teaching me to let go, to not have to be in control. To not care what I look like, how ungraceful I may look. To not worry that I don’t understand the names of the moves, and that I can’t for the life of me remember them all.

… and going with the Flow

There’s nothing like that feeling of flow, when you’re doing a move you’re actually mastering, your feet are doing what they need to without too much thought, your partner is spinning you effortlessly, you feel like you’re a dancer at the 1830 club in Havana… This may only happen occasionally, but it doesn’t matter. I dance for this feeling. And to enjoy the simple act of moving to music, feeling the beat. I dance with a big grin on my face.

I’m out of my comfort zone, I don’t know what I’m doing, it’s hard, but I absolutely love it. Is there something you’re putting off because of fear of not knowing what you’re doing? Something you think you’d secretly enjoy? Is now the time to try?

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Top 3 things to do when you’re feeling trapped at work

Trapped at work

This is a really difficult place in which to find yourself – feeling trapped at work. You know that you are not happy with your current work situation. But you don’t know for sure what you want to do.

You could find a similar job elsewhere. You could do the same role in a different industry. Or you could try something altogether different.

Maybe take a course, get qualified in something. You could start your own business. You could freelance.

Perhaps you do have an inkling about what you want to do, but you’re really, really scared to even try.

The options are of course, endless. But what is the RIGHT thing to do? How do you know?

One day you’re inspired to be an entrepreneur, the next you crave the stability of being part of a team.

Lack of confidence in your decisions, and the paralysis of having many options may mean that you do absolutely nothing other than cry, daydream and ruminate over potential paths to take.

Here are some things you can try to help you get out of this state of feeling trapped at work.

1. Take Action

It is quite simple advice, and obvious, but it can be so hard to actually do. But you have to fight the paralysis.

I repeat this endlessly to my coaching clients, your end goal (be it find a new job, start a business, start a new course, anything in fact) will only be achieved by you taking action and moving forward small step by small step. That’s it. That’s how anyone out there achieves anything.

Make a start

You do something, then you do another thing, then you do another thing. Day after day. And that very first small thing you do can seem so inconsequential and pointless. However….it’s so important. It’s the start.

Getting down all of your thoughts and ideas and options on a piece of paper or spreadsheet. Finally reading that book your friend recommended that helped her so much. Completing that exercise that may help you focus on what you really want. Sending a message to that person doing a job you think you might like but are not at all sure of.

Doing this one first thing isn’t going to provide you with a whole new life next week, but it is going to be the start of your new habit, taking small, regular steps towards your goal. And believe me, feeling as though you are actually DOING something rather than endlessly THINKING is a great place to be.

2. Broaden your scope

What do I mean by this? I mean….open yourself up to new thoughts, ideas and opportunities. Chances are, if you’ve been working in job for a number of years (I did my previous job for 10 years before quitting), you have a fairly narrow view of what you could do next.

At one point I think I honestly believed I could only move onto another version of the role I had at that time. I was an International Sales Manager – therefore I’d have to find another International Sales Manager role out there somewhere.

Even though I wasn’t enjoying the work and it didn’t seem to be a good fit for me, it was as though I was programmed to believe I’d started on that track and could only continue.

I think a lot of people feel like this. It was so hard to imagine doing anything else. What did I know about anything else? I felt that my experience was limited. I’d just have to find the same role in a company that felt like a better fit for me, and get on with it.

Explore

Well, of course, this is not the case. There are so, so many different options out there for you, whatever your experience or qualifications. But you need to develop an awareness of this.

I found that reading, be it newsletters, blogs or books on career change or interviews with people who love their jobs, really helped me to open up to the idea of doing something DIFFERENT. Taking my skills and experience and applying them elsewhere, for a different type of company and having a different role.

Only through reading about other people who had done just that, did the idea become ‘normal’, and I realised that this is perfectly possible for someone like me.

The more you can surround yourself with people who have done what you dream of doing, the more you feel as though you can do it too.

Surrounding yourself in this way can mean chatting to people in person or on the phone, or emailing, but I also found that reading about them or listening to a podcast was really effective.

It changed my way of thinking, my mindset. I realised that so many other people out there have felt exactly the same way as me, and they had managed to move on. Discovering this was such a comfort, and is inspiring and motivating.

3. Start thinking positively

It’s a biggie. Maybe the biggest, most important point. I really think that a positive mindset is the key to doing anything. How can it not be?

If you view things positively and feel positive, I think you are so much more likely to get out there and take action. So much less likely to hide away and let things stay as they are.

And I think it’s something you can work on and develop. If you can cultivate a sense of positivity, you can equip yourself with a sort of protective shield.

You can become practised in the art of seeing the best of a situation, or not letting yourself get dragged down by other people, your own negative thoughts, something going wrong.

It becomes a habit

It really does take practice, and I have to remind myself every day. But I think it gets easier, it’s a habit like anything else – maybe you start eating a healthy breakfast every day, or meditating for 5 minutes every evening, and it sticks.

Thinking positively – choosing to crush a negative thought with a positive one – is also a habit you can work on which gets easier with time.

Gratitude

One way in which to get started is to spend a few minutes every morning or evening, writing down 3 (or 5, or 10, or 20!) things that you are happy about or grateful for, today.

When you’re feeling bad about yourself and your situation, this is hard. But force yourself. 3 things to be happy about. Do you have a warm comfortable bed, hot running water, potential for a cup of tea any time you like? There we go. Remind yourself of this.

I still do this. I find that the worse I’m feeling, the more things I need to find to be grateful about. I’ll set myself a target of 20. And this can be really small things.

I walked in the sun today. I had a delicious breakfast. A random old lady smiled at me in the street. Whatever. You’re training yourself to think more positively, even just starting with 5-10 minutes a day.

Take Action!

Why not try incorporate some of these ideas, bit by bit, and see if they help when you’re feeling trapped at work? Take action, however small. Find something to read, listen to, or someone to talk to, to broaden your view of what is out there for you. Start to think positively. I developed all of the above over a period of time, and they really worked for me and continue to help me in moving forward when I’m feeling stuck or unsure about something. Good luck!

Please share with someone you think might benefit from reading this.

If you’d like my help, book in a coaching session with me here: Contact Me

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