Change Your Career and Work From Home

If you're looking to change your career, you should ask yourself if simply changing from one workplace to another is going to satisfy you. You may be looking to make a more meaningful change, a life change! Maybe you should be thinking broader.
I know it seems daunting. Where do you start? How do you find your true calling, and once you find it, how do you turn your true calling, your life mission into a reality? How do you keep your faith and your self confidence, when your friends are telling you you're crazy and the bills are piling up?

You can escape the 9 to 5. You can do what you love and get paid for it. You can create a life where there is balance and time for the things you truly care about and love.

Life is too short to hate your job. Life is too short to be spent endlessly unfulfilled by reviews, torrents of email, and mind-numbing meetings. The logic is simple. Unfortunately, getting there is not so simple, at least not as simple as scammers would tell you, but it is possible, and it is worth it.

In my own transition from an unhappy cube dweller to a fulfilled writer I used the following steps. Before you read on, it's important that you first realize that changing your life is a course, not an event. It will take dedication and honesty. Ok, here we go:

Step 1. Get the Meaning of Life

That's right. I have the secret of life right here for you: The secret to life is to have a good time. By "good" I don't mean a life of debauchery, but of goodness. Picture yourself in old age. How will you reflect on your life? How do you want to reflect on your life? There is a lot of pressure out there to stay in a safe, soul-sucking occupation, but you have the right, and the responsibility to pursue your dream job. It is your responsibility because ultimately only you can do it. Only you can make yourself happy.

Step 2. Write Your Fantasy Day

Take a break and get comfy. Clear your mind of any anxiety and picture a perfect day of your perfect life: When do you wake up? What's the first thing you see? Where are you living? Where do you go to work? Whom do you work with? When does your work day end? Who are your friends? How are you spending your time? This might sound like a self-indulgent waste of time, but it is actually an extremely effective way of finding out what you want your life to be like, and you can't achieve your ideal life if you don't know what it is. (Incidentally, doing this exercise about your upcoming day can really improve your overall happiness level!)

Step 3. Ignore Your Skills, Focus on Your Passions

While you're imagining your perfect life, let's tune into the things you really enjoy in life. What are the things you want to enjoy in the future, what are the things you've enjoyed in the past? What do people compliment you on? Now lets look at your skills and knowledge. If you don't have the skills or knowledge to turn your passions into a business, then you know what you need to do: Get those skills. I promise you, if you seriously go about getting the skills you need, the path to your dream job will materialize.

Step 4. Don't Fear the Fear

Instead of ignoring your doubts and troubles, explore them. Ignoring them will only give them power. Write down the absolute worst case scenario, chances are it's not really that bad. Once you know what you want to avoid, you can ensure that you do it.

Step 5. Explore the Road Ahead

Attaining your dream is going to take time, effort, honesty, and bravery. There are probably going to be some rough spots where you'll have to sacrifice things. Explore what you're willing to give up, and how you will cope, that way, when the hard times come, and they probably will, you'll already have a strategy and coping tools to handle it.

Step 6. Learn

Our fears are most powerful when we don't know anything about them. The more knowledge we have of the things that scare us, the smaller they become. Research is key: take classes, go to the Library, join groups, and network with people that have started similar businesses. No matter what you are planning on doing, there are hundreds of others who have gone before, and their successes and failures are invaluable.

Step 7. Prepare

Take advantage of the fact that you still have a steady paycheck and prepare. If your current employer offers training or educational opportunities that will help you, use them now. Likewise, now is the time to save money and invest in your new life.

Step 8. Network!

Find others who share your passion for living on their own terms and meet with them to generate ideas, set goals, and act as support groups when the going gets tough.

Step 9. Break it Down!

If you take the preceding steps, you'll have a good idea of exactly what you need to do. Break down these larger goals into the actual steps they entail and start taking action. Even small steps like making a phone call or jotting something down will add up. Before you know it, the excitement of actively creating your new life will take hold of you and you'll be working with greater determination and vigor than ever before!

Step 10. Give Thanks

I firmly believe that success means happiness, and happiness cannot be achieved without being grateful for what we already have. As unhappy as you may be with certain circumstances in your life, if you're reading this your life is probably full of abundant gifts right now. As often as you can, take time out to be grateful for the things you have, especially loved ones and health, if you are lucky enough to have those in your life. Remember at the beginning, building the perfect life is a process, and it cannot exist without you being grateful at every step of the way.

Give your dreams the attention they deserve. Changing the direction of your life will not be easy, but it IS worth it. We have the opportunity and ability to shape and direct our own course in life, and we would be mad not to take that opportunity. Good Luck!