Career confusion: Is it OK to be confused about your career?
As you watch your friends climb the ladder to success, get promoted, entertain clients at stellar lunches and put down the deposit on their first home, it can feel scary to contemplate that you still don’t quite know what to do with your life.
Whether you are in a job that you don’t love or desperately looking for the next great thing to strive towards, career malaise can be one of the biggest causes of stress for many women. However, if wondering what to do with you career is keeping you up at night, then take a deep breath – the following ideas may just help.
The reason career confusion is so prevalent in women today is that we are one of the first generations that has the luxury – and option – of choosing work that we love. The generations before us had little vocational choice – women either worked the fields or served as maids; confined to war factories or stayed at home to clean up and raise the children. So really, this confusion is the luxury of having opportunity and choice. Celebrate! In fact, we know that statistically the average person will change a career path five to seven times in the course of a lifetime.
However, the focus on choosing what we love and what we’re good at for a job can be a double edged sword for someone who has various talents and hobbies. “I’m an amazing baker – should I open up a cake store? But I’m also great with kids – should I train to be a nanny?” Even if you have articulated a personal strength as a guide, there is still a world of vocations for every personality type. For instance, if you are organised you could be an event planner, a company manager or an executive assistant – all very different vocations requiring that same skill. What’s a gal to do?
While this can feel like your active mind will give you little chance of committing to a set path, career confusion is a healthy and normal pathway to success that can even be used to your advantage.
Firstly, adjust your attitude to the whole situation. Focusing on how anxious or confused you feel will only breed more of the same – and even blind you to possible opportunities that may crop up because you are too busy worrying! Instead, do stress management techniques like walking, yoga and meditation to still your mind and be proactive in maintaining a positive outlook. Change your self-talk to say “of course I will find the right role. This path of exploration is joyful and opening my world to many opportunities, people and ideas. I am excited by what is around the corner and am certain I will be a success!” Repeat and affirm this power stanza every time you feel less than fist-pumped about the future.
Next, be open to exploring every opportunity that comes your way – even if at first it seems unconventional. Fortune favours the brave so put your hand up, reach out and walk boldly through the doors that open. You never know what you’ll learn! Don’t be quick to dismiss possible career options until you try them out. Research different companies and vocations online by visiting websites and reading job ads. Also, put the word out to everyone you know that you’re looking to broaden your horizons and go for a coffee with contacts in the industry of your consideration to find out what working there is really like. Ask companies to intern one day per week so you get invaluable first-hand experience of the daily workings of a role. Also, be open to opportunities to upskill, especially in the digital or technical space. If you are considering an entirely new career or an evolution on a current one, distance education can be a flexible and appealing option to grow within an industry without putting your life on hold.
Finally, get to know yourself, ask for feedback and keep growing in the areas that you need. Begin with a personality test such a Myers-Briggs or ask close friends and even past peers for feedback about how they see you.
The path from confusion to career clarity is simply to focus on what you love, explore what you’re fascinated by and refine what you’re good at. Eventually, a way forward will reveal itself -so leave your front door safe in the knowledge that with these tools, even if you get lost, the joy is finding your way back.
Alina Berdichevsky is a personal branding coach and regular contributor to the Open Colleges Careers blog. When she’s not writing about leadership, communication and success, she loves reading about inspiring women in history, working on her soufflé and of course – perfecting an inner zen.
You Might Also Like
“We couldn’t recommend Kylie highly enough.”
“Having ongoing training is essential for our team and our business. It’s important to look after the people that look after others. Kylie has the experience, professionalism and knowledge to engage with our team and help them understand about human behaviour and why people do what they do. In the wellness and health industry it’s a different sales and service delivery and it’s imperative to keep on top of these understandings to perform at our best to help others. We couldn’t recommend Kylie high enough.”
- Amanda Bracks - Owner Soulful Fitness (2019 Fitness Australia Boutique of the Year)
“She’s the best speaker they’ve ever seen.”
“I have worked with Kylie over many years. She has helped me as a Business Mindset Coach, as a motivational speaker for my gym clients at both Vision Personal Training & now at Flow Athletic. I bring her in to train my Personal Training teams in mindset, communication and how to coach our clients better and excel in our own personal mastery as fitness leaders. At my recent Fitness Business event, my gym owner colleagues were blown away by her talk, saying she is the best speaker they have ever seen. After every event we always get rave reviews about her talks and training. I highly recommend Kylie’s work as a coach & speaker.”
- Ben Lucas - Founder & CEO, Flow Athletic
“So many things are just falling into my lap.”
“I finished the Spiritual Awakening Course yesterday and I found it truly amazing. An incredible next step after our coach training. I feel so much more enlightened and “opened-up”. It has really opened my eyes to the power of the universe and the energy flowing in each of us. I loved it – thank you.
I am feeling so lucky at the moment. So many things are just falling into my lap. I visualise it and set my intention to manifest it and it comes. Things such as getting more clients, needing help to put my business online, not knowing how to get known in my local community etc. Courses / insights / clients have just fallen into my lap at the right time.”
Of course I am still learning and growing, but the course has really helped. Thank you”
- Katharine Williams - NLP Coach, Limitless Growth
I started my coaching business from scratch before I’d finished the course!
“Before I met Kylie I was feeling very lost working full time in law in Sydney CBD. I’ve known my whole life that I was here to help people, but I just didn’t know exactly how. So when I found Kylie, it just was really fitting that it was going to help me ground my magic. I started the coach training and had an amazing time. It was beautiful to go through the process of having a mentor that had that spiritual element and that holistic element, as well as the very grounded science-based knowledge as well. So that really helped me to conjure that for myself.
I started my business before I even finished the course. I just started putting myself out there. And now I’ve gotten it to a point where I’ve got really grounded solid message, and two years later am running a multi-6 figure coaching business as a leading pioneer in my niche, helping clients all over the world.”
- Ari Kala - Psychic Development Coach
“I have never been this happy or powerful.”
“Before I signed up with Kylie I had a busy PT business… I was exhausted and on the brink of burnout and no matter how hard I tried, I had reached a ceiling in my income that I just couldn’t break through. After completing my NLP Coaching certification, I found my true voice and the energy of my business has been completely transformed. I’ve created an online program, up-levelled my entire business and totally smashed my previous income goals. I make decisions more confidently and I can help my clients create change in their life even faster. On a personal level, NLP gave me the inner strength to leave a toxic situation and rebuild myself which lead to me discovering the love of my life! Today I am living the life that I’ve always wanted – but just hadn’t been able to put into words. I have never been this happy or this powerful. If you want to manifest the life of your dreams I would not hesitate to reach out for help from Kylie.”
- Danni Vee - Women's Health Coach, My Fit Tribe
“I made 30K in new sales the month after graduating”
Before attaining my NLP Coach certification, I was an online trainer who was getting excellent results for “some” of my clients. I used a mixture of experience, intuition and an exhausting “helicopter-parent” style of accountability coaching. It was like the 20% of the clients who weren’t getting good results took up 80% of my effort, and it was draining my passion for my business. Completing my Certification with Kylie has been the best decision of my career. The very next month after finishing I created a new program and made $30,000 in new sales. I now have a repeatable system to coach my clients and I can get them both immediate AND long-lasting change, sometimes in less than 40 minutes. In the past 12 months, I have doubled my freedom and fulfilment in my business I have created raving clients who snap up my offers.”
- Bianca Aiono, PT Business Mentor & NLP Coach
“I’ve noticed big improvements in my finances and client retention”
I signed up with Kylie because I knew that to have a bigger effect as a PT I needed to improve my understanding of how the mind works. Through NLP Coach training I now have great coaching techniques that break through all sorts of negative behaviour patterns. I’ve noticed big improvements in all areas of my life including my own personal finances and my client retention. This has allowed me new freedom to work on scaling my business and helping even more people with less one on one time from myself. The coach training has given me the ability to fully unlock the power of your mindset and those that don’t have this skill are only tapping into a small amount of their potential.
- Blake Worrall-Thompson, Performance Coach & PT
“Magick happens every time!”
This morning I had a kick-ass coaching session with Kylie Ryan. We’ve been working together for a couple of months, and she’s the perfect person to help me integrate the rapid transformations I go through regularly. I’d been getting this vision of my fully mature creative and entrepreneurial self. His discipline, commitment, and command of wealth was 10x what mine is now, but it wasn’t really about money for him. Our coaching sessions usually roll with me saying, “Kylie, I want to be, do, and have EVERYTHING” and Kylie helping me find the archetypes and parts that aren’t integrated and bringing them together. MAGICK HAPPENS EVERY TIME.
- Dane Tomas - Creator of The Spiral
Featured In
