How’s your career change going? If you’re whizzing along, blitzing barriers, exploring new turf, and following fab leads, Bravo!

If the pace is glacial or you just can’t get unstuck, maybe you’re falling prey to one of these four classic career change stuff-ups.

You’re stuck in your head

There are lots of ways to end up here. You can:

• Catch analysis paralysis

Whether you’ve got zillions or zero new career ideas, you overthink everything. Your frantic brain whirrs like a hamster on a wheel until you’re reduced to a screaming heap. Stop spinning now.

• Believe negative self-talk

Your inner doomsayers fill your head with rants about how rubbish you are ‘AT EVERYTHING.’ Your brain is so fogged by fear of failure you can’t imagine finding, let alone competing for new jobs. Get a little mental shush.

• Assume the worst

You’re letting a bunch of limiting beliefs stifle your career change. You overestimate the difficulty of breaking into a new field and underestimate your courage and capability. Challenge untested assumptions.

• Go it alone

You’re keeping your career change project a secret. Maybe you’re anticipating opposition from sceptical friends and family or hostility from envious colleagues. Perhaps you’re wary of paying a professional who may not ‘get’ you.

Choose your cheer squad or find a compatible coach.

You’re stuck in cyberspace

If only you could Google your way to a new career. The Internet can certainly answer some pretty cool career-related questions. Sadly, this doesn’t include two of the most important ones - who you are and what you need from your career.

If you’re lost in an online maze, buried by a data avalanche, or ordering truckloads of career change books online, here’s how to get off Google and into the real world.

You’re stuck in your comfort zone

Although it’s now a ‘discomfort zone’ as you’re trapped in a job or a field you know but no longer love. You grit your teeth and tell yourself (and everyone else), ‘I’m good at this, I’m meant to be here, I can’t do anything else.’

Maybe you’ve traded your old job for a ‘new’ one just like it. You wish you could move into a totally ‘new’ career, but you’re convinced that ‘no experience equals ‘no chance.’

Change your mindset to ‘getting better’. Thinking differently about the depth and value of your ‘experience’ will help you quit your career change comfort zone.

You’re stuck without a plan

Money worries and low motivation are getting in the way. Fear of financial ruin is bringing you undone. You can’t connect your interests to actual careers. When it came to unlocking the ‘hidden job market,’ you feel clueless.

Fund your transition, kindle your career change spark, crack the ‘hidden job market’.

Get a plan!

By Jo Green, Career Change Coach

I help people who don’t like their job to figure out what to do instead! I can help you explore what meaningful work is for you. I’ll work with you to lessen the stress of changing careers.

Drop me a note to organise a free 20 minute consultation to chat about your career change and how coaching could help.