3 Reasons Why You Don’t Have to Be Afraid to Shift Your Career Path
Meet Andreas. He is 28 years old who's always been working as a Software Developer since he graduated from university. But the past two years, Andreas found himself frequently bored and tired with the job he has been doing.
While living through day-by-day tasks at his office that he feels “nothing new,” the past two years, Andreas cannot stop thinking of pursuing a career as a Copywriter, something that interested him since he’s an avid reader who actively writes in his blog.
Andreas also often feels jealous of friends who show how passionate they are about their job, though they already reached a pretty decent position and salary at his office. This kind of feeling made him think of even more to shift his career.
But every time he found himself doing that, he would ask himself, "Wait, I’m about to reach my 30s soon and already had a comfortable situation regarding my position and salary, would it be wise if I change my career path?”
What Andreas thinks might be something that you’re thinking too. But, on the other hand, shifting a career path might be scary since you’re going to “start all over again.”
But if it is something that you wanted to do, shifting a career path might be the best choice in your life. Why? Here are the reasons.
1. New challenges mean growth
Once you have mastered your current job, you could (feel) stagnate. You are stuck on autopilot mode, and your day-to-day office task doesn’t challenge you anymore. If that's the case, then that’s a good sign it’s time to go. So bend your comfort zones a bit, and expand your horizons.
You might feel there’ll be a risk because you know that you will put yourself in a situation where you’re not sure you’re on top of everything.
But it was just like one of the finest Hollywood actors, Morgan Freeman, once said, “Challenge yourself; it's the only path to growth.”
Challenges will enable you to become a better person. It will make you do things that may be uncomfortable, challenging, or difficult. But you have to know, by doing this, you’re learning new skills, adopting new habits, and experiencing new things.
2. It’s never too late to start something new
Okay, we got it. This one point might sound like a motivational poster. But the one who limits you on doing something is yourself.
There’ll be a part of yourself that will hesitate, that makes you feel when you’ve reached a certain age or position at your company, you’ll be doubting yourself that it is too late for you to shift your career path?
But rather than ask, "When will it be too late for me to change careers?” you have to ask yourself this important question — "What do I want from the rest of my life?"
In life, you'll never know what the outcome of a situation will be unless you throw yourself into it. And the same thing also applies to this matter. So you have to apply to that new role to know whether you’re qualified or not, and also whether you’re happy about it or not.
Remember, every individual brings their unique perspective — and yours may be the one that is valuable for the next career path that you will take.
Either way, it's worth a shot and certainly better than feeling sorry for yourself for never trying to do something new in life.
3. Your salary might be less, but it’ll be just for a while
Most of us are looking for upward financial mobility when changing careers, but it might be different when choosing to shift our career path. You might be starting from a lower-level position, which means there’ll be a reduction in terms of salary.
No one wants to send themselves into debt because of having a lower salary. We all can’t deny that money is important. But If you can live just for a while with less of it and still wake up with a smile on your face because you’re happy with your new job, you're doing something right.
This is because, when you’re happy with your job, you could perform better and if you could achieve this, worry not, because salary raise will follow those who are being great at their job.
In short, there may be short-term sacrifices in terms of cash flow, but if you are happier in a long time, then, by all means, you should pursue it.
Shifting your career path might be scary at the first time. But these three reasons will ensure you that you don't have to be afraid of doing it because, after all, life is about trying, and there will always be good things about that.
If you want to be more sure about making this decision, try doing a career consultation with us. Also, be sure that you follow us on Instagram @baikgp and @ayureadypodcast for more information regarding your career.