When you’re young and single, you can make decisions and change your mind as frequently as you’d like. However, your choices will ultimately impact your family when you get older. Take switching careers, for example. A recent college graduate or single young adult can work for a company one day and then start a business the next. A married woman with kids can make the same decision, but she’ll have to consider how it will affect her household before making a move.
Between A Rock And A Hard Place
Have you found yourself in this predicament? You’ve been working for a company for several years to keep the lights on and food on the table, but it’s not personally or professionally satisfying. You want to change careers, but you’re afraid that accomplishing that goal will disrupt your family unit.
Making It Work
The good news is you can make a career change at any age. The key to getting through it is finding balance. Below are a few suggestions.
Evaluate Your Decision
The first bit of advice is to evaluate your decision to make a career change. As this decision will impact you and your family, you want to ensure you’re making an informed choice to move forward. The biggest question to consider is, are you dissatisfied with the field you’re in or just the company you work for? If it’s the latter, perhaps you should start applying for a job with another organization.
If you believe you’re simply ready to shift gears completely, do some research to determine what that will require. For example, if you wanted to be a social worker, you might need to go back to school and take psychology courses or get a forensic certificate. How much will that cost? How long will it take? What will be required of your family to support you?
Talk To Your Family
Once you’ve thoroughly evaluated your decision to make a career change and determined how to accomplish the goal, it’s time to talk to your family. Of course, you should start with your significant other since they’re the other adult in the house. Express your desire to do something different with your life. Share your dreams, goals, and your plan to get there. Finally, explain the necessary sacrifices it may require.
After you two have discussed the matter and gotten on the same page, you can present the news to your children.
Planning, Routines, And Schedules
The next step is creating a plan and building schedules and routines around those plans. As you’re figuring out your professional journey, don’t forget to evaluate the financial, structural, and emotional aspects of your home life. For instance, if you’re going to quit your job and go to college, how will your family survive the increased debt with less income? Ultimately, you would look into financial aid and scholarship opportunities while adopting frugal budgeting techniques.
Using the same example, if you’re going back to school, how will it change your family’s existing routines and schedules? If your schedule permits you from dropping the kids off at school, will your spouse do it, or do they need to sign up to ride the bus? If you’re going to night school, will you meal prep and batch cook, so your family has dinner, or will outside relatives volunteer to cook?
As you work through each portion of your professional plan, ensure that you’ve created routines and schedules for your household. That way, you can accomplish your goals without too much disruption to their everyday lives.
If you feel that you’re in a career that doesn’t speak to your passions, there’s nothing wrong with making a change. Yes, your current job may pay the bills, but there’s more to life than earning a quick buck. If you’ve been holding off on taking the leap because of how it may impact your family, it’s time to put your plans in motion. As you can see, with a bit of planning and preparation, you can ease the impact and begin the journey to doing something you love.