Like O.J. Simpson at his trial, sometimes no matter how persistent you are to make the glove fit, your work just doesn’t fit you.

In a tough economic environment, it’s scary thinking of making major industry changes, (i.e. from a preschool teacher to a nurse), let alone changing jobs in your same field (i.e. from a piano teacher for kids to a piano teacher for adults). If you’re not in pain right now over your job and don’t have financial resources to be out of work for at least six months, I recommend you hold tight where you are until your finances will be supportive for a period of transition, you do know what you want, have the skills and talents to bring to the work, and have developed sufficient contacts to help get you the work.

But in the meantime, it’s time to find out why your job isn’t a fit for you and see if you can’t infuse it with new energy and interest to stay or begin the research process for a job change. Some key questions so you can make a list of your responses and begin to formulate a clear plan for your future action steps:

1. Was your job ever a fit for you? What are the best, the worst and the so-so parts for you?
2. Have you ever had some of the same positives (from #1) in other work you’ve done?
3. What specifically has changed and what can you be responsible for to improve your situation?

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Thankfully the majority of my clients have a pretty clear idea of what they’d like to do or in what area they’d like to improve personally or professionally.  There are, however, those who have come to me with a greater sense of dissatisfaction and a sense of lost hope about their future.  I may need to refer them to therapy or coach them in addition to therapeutic support.  They may be someone who “followed the leader” and learned a skill or trade that was handed down to them, but it was never really their dream.  They don’t dare dream, because they’ve lost a belief in their power to create it.  These individuals have a crisis of confidence.

Not only do they feel dissatisfied with their life, but they didn’t learn how to recognize their own ability to make changes.  They’ve become good at adapting to people and situations.  They get by, but they don’t thrive.

I’m reminded of a speech by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 when he talked about his view on the main problem threatening our American society.  He said, “The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.”  He called it a symptom of our spirit and he said, “The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.”  He called on us to have faith.

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Out of work and want to continue doing what you were doing?  Here’s a 7-step list of preparatory steps I recently shared with a colleague:

Assess, Prepare, Take Action

Following this and within two weeks, reassess your carefully observed efforts and make changes as needed in your 7-Step goals approach.  

What strategies have you successfully used in starting a new career?