I am highly-sensitive.

If you’re reading this, you may be too.  Welcome!

I’m not sure how much you know about the topic of high-sensitivity. I am still learning more about it each day, but it was a huge relief to me the first time I heard this was real. It’s taken me many years to believe it is true, to accept it as one of my traits, to stop trying to change it and now to even love it.

It was when I gave myself permission to ask this question that my work life started to change. Asking this question shifted my work life from good, or not-so-good at times, to awesome.  Now I truly feel that my work reflects who I really am.  I no longer feel like a square peg trying to fit in a round hole and I get to create what I bring to the world every day.

When I changed the title of my LinkedIn profile from Consultant & Recruitment Manager to Career Change Coach, it resulted in quite a bit of anxiety. A lot of anxiety, in fact. You see, I had also added my energy healing training and practitioner experience.

Yikes! EVERYONE I HAVE EVER WORKED WITH CAN NOW SEE WHO I REALLY AM.

When I received my first job offer as a recruiter, I accepted it quickly and wholeheartedly.  And yet, I had this nagging, uneasy feeling – “do I really want to be a recruiter?”  What if I don’t like it?  Taking this job means that I will close the door to other possibilities for a while. What if I am making a BIG mistake?

We all know someone who is unhappy at work.

Someone close to me just changed jobs, not even three months ago.  She called me last night to chat. When I asked her how she was, I could feel the despair in her voice when she answered:

“I’m just done with this. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

You may need some support throughout the process of changing careers on how to cope with change and how to move forward.  A real challenge lies in how we deal with the fears that arise when we must do the work of making the change happen.  

After the initial excitement of a new job had passed, Sunday afternoons and evenings were always a little blue for me as I thought about the upcoming week.  I would try to focus on the areas I enjoyed the most and find meaning in what I was doing, but it always just scratched the surface of what I wished I could be doing instead.

Looking back, 2016 was a particularly challenging year for me.  I had to step up my responsibility as a caregiver in my family, learn how to transition from paid employment to being fully self-employed and - vertigo.  The world around me suddenly did not seem to be moving forward progressively anymore, but actually taking steps back.  

My clients generally have great jobs.  They really do!  Well-paid jobs in interesting fields such as  Arts, academia, infrastructure, fashion - and are successful at them. 

This is the question I get asked most often!   Here are some suggestions to consider when you want to change your working life.