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If you hate your job, but feel stuck because you have no idea what you’d rather do — this post is for you! Instead of taking another career aptitude test, updating your resume with new skills and interests for the zillionth time, or asking your best friend for career advice again…
Maybe it’s time for you to face a few tough truths.
In this article, I share 3 confronting truths about your career indecision. If you’ve never tried coaching before, these may seem a little sus… but I was a coaching client way before I was a career coach, so I can vouch from the client side of things, too!
Are you ready to discover what you want so you can finally change careers? Let’s do this!
Truth 1: Actually, you probably DO know what career path you want!
Think I’m lying? Well, stick with me!
You feel stuck, right? You have a million ideas about your dream career, but you aren’t sure what to act on. Or, you have absolutely no idea what interests you anymore and just can’t figure out how to identify it. Right?
Well, what if I told you that you DO know your ideal career move?
If you’re with the side-eyeing dog on this one, I get it — I’d be skeptical, too! But there are two distinct ways that I know this:
- I experienced it with my own career change
- I regularly coach folks who feel stuck just like this in their careers!
When someone tells me they don’t know what direction to take their career, here’s what usually happens next:
They proceed to describe exactly what they want. Like, in detail.
How their skills and interests once lined up perfectly in a different career. Or how their job seemed like a good fit — even a perfect match — in the beginning.
And yet, in their minds, they still don’t know how to determine what career path they’d prefer.
How is that possible? Well, I’ll be blunt:
As you’re talking, you’re not really listening to yourself. At least, not in the way someone else can listen!
Instead, you’re probably chasing your train of thought at full speed, or just wandering through an orchard of thought-trees, grasping at the closest word-apple you can reach. You’re exploring what to say next.
Meanwhile, a coach hears you with complete focus. Presence and active listening are essential parts of our training, letting us make connections that can seem simple — but feel totally mind-blowing to you.
You don’t have to work with a career coach to get this kind of insight. It might happen a little faster with a coach, but it’s not out of reach.
Either way, the key to uncovering career satisfaction? It’s not searching job boards or taking another career test.
It’s sitting down for focused, dedicated self-reflection time. Time where you can truly listen to yourself, collect data points, create connections, and find patterns.
This practice doesn’t just help you find the career you’re “best suited to” in terms of skills and experience — it helps you identify why you want the career you want! And that gives you the clarity, confidence, and motivation to define your objective and finally make a move.
Wondering what you’d actually do during that focused self-reflection time? Start here: Want a Change of Careers? 10 Steps to Clarity
Truth 2: The right question can be more helpful than any advice
When we feel stuck, our first instinct is to look for advice — for someone to give us the answer. “What career should I choose?” “Should I quit my job?” “What do you think my strengths are?”
But have you ever gotten the answer you asked for… and felt worse than before you asked?
Maybe your friend really thought through the best career advice they had, considering everything they know about you. Or your boss listed 3 things they really appreciate about you at work. Or you took a really detailed career assessment that looked so promising… at first.
You got a great answer! It might even be on the right track. But when you try to figure out the right career path based on someone else’s opinion, your brain just kinda… resists labelling it as truth.
That’s happened to me more times than I can count! One reason is that our own answers take into account our entire personality, values, and life experiences. We know ourselves better than anyone else can — even if we don’t trust that information enough to take action on it.
External advice or knowledge (even from the most well-meaning friend, family member, boss, or mentor) just can’t consider every aspect of who you are. It’s not their fault! It’s just that they’ll never be you.
Here’s where coaching comes in.
Coaches who follow the International Coaching Federation’s definition of coaching actually don’t give advice! Instead, they ask targeted questions designed to move clients forward — to become more self-aware, self-compassionate, and confident. And ultimately, to achieve their personal and career goals.
That includes discovering the best career path based on that client’s unique skills, interests, abilities, work style, preferred work environment, and much more.
If you’ve never worked with a coach before, I know… this might sound a little wild. “So, you’re going to answer my question with another question?”
But once you experience it, you understand how transformative private career coaching actually is.
When you realize that you have the best answers to your own questions, something amazing happens. You discover that you can solve your problems without advice. In fact, you can solve them better and move ahead more confidently without advice!
Why? As you become more self-aware, you doubt yourself less. And that means you can solve problems better and faster in the future — all thanks to someone who once asked you the right questions.
Curious what kind of questions could help you explore your career needs more deeply? Check out this article: Find Your Purpose and Passion with 5 Unexpected Questions
Truth 3: The barrier to getting your ideal career path? It’s just a hurdle
Let’s review what we’ve talked about so far. You probably do know the best future career for you, and you don’t need advice to discover it — you may just need the right questions.
Knowing what career you want is a huge step forward, but it’s only half the battle. Because something else is holding you back. Something’s still stopping you from declaring what you want and committing to it.
Maybe you don’t think you have enough information to decide on a new career — you just need to research more, right? Or you worry that your skills or work style won’t translate in a new industry. Maybe you’re used to toxic work environments, so you don’t believe that a great workplace actually exists. Or maybe you can’t deal with the possibility of a new career not working out — or your self-doubt is just too loud.
Whatever it is, you can’t overcome what’s holding you back from your best career… until you explore and identify exactly what that thing is.
So, that doubt or uncertainty may feel like an impenetrable barrier right now. Something you can’t climb over or push through.
But when you learn about it, examine it, dig around it, and explore… you get more power over it. The barrier shrinks. Now, it’s just a hurdle you can jump over.
When you understand why you fear something, you can start to unravel it. Your goal isn’t to ignore it — because typically, you can’t. You might not ever destroy it, either, and that’s ok.
Instead, you can knock it down, hop over it, or walk around it… then, you can finally get the career you want.
Curious how to overcome your career fears? Read more here: I’m Scared to Quit My Job: How to Do It With Less Fear
How Do I Find What Career is Right for Me?
To find what career is right for you, you need 3 essential elements:
- The understanding that the right answer is within you — you won’t find it externally. Instead of gaining more knowledge or seeking more advice, spend more time with self-reflection to inform your decision!
- The curiosity to seek out the right questions. Since you’re the only one who can choose your ideal career, you need to get creative and explore the right prompts. What are your personal values? What work did you once enjoy doing? What’s your top priority in life right now? Where do you want to be in 5 years? The exact right question for you isn’t always obvious — but you’ll know it when you hear it. Working with a career coach can elicit the right answers faster than you may on your own.
- The perspective that whatever stands in your way isn’t a barrier — it’s just a hurdle. The reasons, details, and excuses that have held you back from changing careers aren’t impossibilities! They’re just things you haven’t figured out yet. Technical details to examine more closely. Ultimately, they’re elements you can plan for.
With these elements in place, you’ll finally have the space to discover the right career for you.
So, what’s the right career for you — and what’s holding up your career change plans?
This stuff is easy to say, but harder to do! So if you want a different career path but need support to figure out your next move, the right coach can be a great partner.
Coaches are trained to be impartial, nonjudgmental, and curious about you. Plus, they share your same goal: to uncover your best career option and develop a realistic, structured plan to achieve it.
Is 1:1 coaching your best path to discovering a new career? Learn more about the 4-Step Career Reset.
