The biggest changes happened for me when I picked up the phone.
My wife used to joke that I’m allergic to the phone. Faced with a choice between calling someone and sending them an email, often in the past I chose the email. And I would always try and work it out myself rather than ask for advice and insight from others.
When you want a change in your career direction, these are both big mistakes. I’ve found that and when I’ve wanted to make a change in my own career, speaking to people directly (career networking) has made a huge impact and helped me so much more than relying on emails, messages and putting pressure on myself to have all the answers.
You’d be surprised how many people are open to having a conversation about the work they do. Sharing their experience and insight with an interested stranger. I’ve found LinkedIn to be a great place to connect with such people.
So if you’re stuck in analysis paralysis or feel you’re going round in circles, why not reach out to someone else, whether face to face or virtually?
Career networking is just one of the approaches I discuss with clients when helping them make their career change. It’s something which many people find difficult to do at first, but they gain confidence with practice and as they start asking the right questions to get the conversation going. If you’d like to some support in doing this, you can find out more about how we can work together on my career change coaching page.