Getting Happy First Is Essential To Making A Successful Career Change

culled from:careershifters.org

Current career depressing you? Is this negativity starting to affect other aspects of your life? Sarah Cooper reckons that taking some time out from thinking about your career change to focus on what makes you happy could be just what the doctor ordered...

What you do for a living's a big part of your life. So, if work isn't going well, the related unhappiness often spills over and infects other things.
Your relationships suffer because you moan constantly.
Your finances suffer because you spend extravagantly to try to cheer yourself up.
Your life balance suffers because your work hours have killed off all your hobbies. Or you're completely exhausted from throwing every spare hour into your hobbies to make up for the horrible time you're having at work.
You're so miserable that gaining any kind of career clarity or momentum feels like trudging through treacle. You're just not in the right frame of mind to think creatively or positively.

Your best ally

The best thing you can do in this situation is take the pressure off. Forget about figuring out the perfect career and focus instead on being happy now.
"Most people think of happiness as a desirable outcome...the emotional paycheck for effort and achievement...Research paints a very different picture...happiness is actually beneficial in and of itself, and acts as important psychological capital...a means to a valued end rather than a goal in itself". Wise words from positive psychologist Robert Biswas-Diener.
We all too often fall for the "if...then" trap. If I had a different job/better pay/a successful business/my novel published then I would be happy.
Positive psychology research has found is that — ironically — getting happy first actually increases the likelihood you'll reaching the goals you've set to make yourself happy.
Here are a few things that made me happier. Many of these ideas are backed up by research:

1. Surround yourself with positive, like-minded people

Ignore negative comments from people who don't share your values or interests and seek out new and supportive circles: join a film club, debating society, hiking group, writing circle. Or volunteer for a cause or enrol in a course that interests you.
Broadening your social circle is the best way to move past rigid and unhelpful ways of thinking and embrace the freeing notion that there's no one way of experiencing life.

2. Start new hobbies (or reintroduce old ones)

Don't worry too much about whether this new hobby is something from which you want to earn a living. Just reconnect with activities that give you pleasure. You'll gain new skills and fresh perspectives and expand your sense of who you are. All of these things will make a change in direction (whatever that turns out to be) easier down the line.

3. Create or seek out uplifting environments

Dedicate a small area of your home to your career plans and make it somewhere you love to be. You don't need a whole room — a desk in the corner of your living room is plenty. Keep the space free of clutter, add a vase of fresh flowers, place photos of family or friends around, or whatever makes you feel relaxed and positive.
Our brains also respond well to a change of scene, so think about places outside your home you could escape to for some career pondering. I'm writing this from Grandma's Kitchen, my favourite cafe tucked down a small hutong (alleyway) a couple of minutes' cycle ride from my home. I'm sitting in their covered verandah with a couple of snoozing cats for company and a view of pomegranate trees, lavender, roses and trailing vines. Whenever I'm feeling a little out of sorts, the place never fails to work its magic.

4. Be kind to yourself

Be conscious of how often you berate yourself for not having figured out your life yet or being less talented/well-off/successful/informed than friends, colleagues, neighbours or world experts.
Instead of haranguing yourself, substitute a kinder, more motivating message. It often helps to imagine you are talking to someone else, aswe're never as hard on other people as we are on ourselves!).
For example, for:
"Because I haven't read every book ever published on earthworm reproduction I am not qualified to lecture/write a best-seller/hold workshops/impart any knowledge whatsoever on this topic".
Substitute
"The short course I took "The Life Cycle of the Humble Earthworm" means I have a degree of understanding that novice earthworm enthusiasts will gladly pay to tap into."

5. Give yourself time out

If it's been a while since you truly enjoyed your work or other important aspects of your life, give yourself a break.
Decide on a window of time (one, two or six months even) when you aren't going to worry about the future. Allow yourself simply to get back in touch NOW with what makes you happy.
Experiment, treat yourself gently, and don't take anything too seriously. When you're happier, the mists will lift and you'll see so much more clearly the shape of your new career and the path you need to take to get there.