9 out of 10 people think about changing career or have already done it. Taking the plunge is not easy… The reason why? Fear! I met up with Vincent Monmousseau, coach in leadership, professional and personal development, giving us tips on how to build self-confidence, in a time where changing career becomes as common as changing one’s shirt.
Get out of your comfort zone
“You must get out of your comfort zone! Because the more you stay in your comfort zone, the less you challenge yourself and that’s how you lose self-confidence”.
Vincent Monmousseau argues that by believing in one’s skills and legitimacy, one will reach the tipping point to career change. Vincent himself changed career at the age of 40, while working as a graphic designer since he was 18 years old. The trigger? The loss of meaning in his old job. A meaningful job is the key: “For example, what leads to burnout is not due to being overwhelmed by work, it is due to us not being in harmony with our work” says the coach.
Find your ikigai
A Japanese concept called “ikigai”, which can be translated to “joy of life” or “purpose”, makes it possible to find one’s way. We hear more and more about it because in Japan, this method has proved its worth. The island of Okinawa, in the south of the country, is the place in the world where people live the longest. A longevity partly attributed to the benefits of ikigai, and to a healthy lifestyle. Bringing attention to the concept!
To put it simply, ikigai is at the crossroads of four major questions:
– what we love,
– what we are good at,
– what the world needs,
– what’s worthy enough to be paid for.
Bringing these 4 main criteria together, you will find the reason for getting up in the morning. But, if just 1 of these elements is not met, one will never be fully satisfied. For example, if you are good at your job, contributing to the growth of the company for which you are paid well, but at the same time you are not passionate about it, you will always lack that small spark in your life!
On the contrary, you have people who work for their passion, but fall short of paying the monthly bills… It is therefore important to identify the 4 elements that will make YOU happy.
Take your responsibilities
Once your ikigai is found, you have to be ready to take action! It will be challenging and “your ego will get hurt” warns Vincent Monmousseau. Changing one’s life implies doing things differently, “changing our beliefs, making other decisions for different results.
Take the apple pie for instance, he continues: the ingredients are our beliefs; the recipe, represents the steps to follow to make the pie. This pie will bring emotions: anger or sadness if it went wrong in the making, pride or joy if we succeeded. To transform this result and this emotion, we will have to change the way we do it. If we always have the same ingredients and the same recipe, we will always have the same result!”
Surround yourself
Changing career is also knowing to surround yourself. Because the time of transition is not an easy task. Some tests will probably await you like the change of pace in your life, having to learn new skills in a whole new field of work or lowering your income level during a given time might happen but is not inevitable.
Before embarking on this journey, our coach in professional, personal and leadership development advises to “talk to those close to you and ensure that your partner supports your approach and gage his support”.
To change, you have to be ready to make some concessions. But when you think about it, it’s well worth it to surpass yourself and shake up your life to live the life you dreamt of!
For more inspiration, here’s the list of the most promising jobs in the coming years.
