What should I do with my life?  How many times have you heard that phrase come out of the lips of friends, family members or even out of your own mouth.

It is most definitely something I would have said many times and what is interesting about the actual wording of the phrase is the word ‘DO’ rather than ‘WANT’.  This implies to me that the person saying it is actually ready to do something to change how they are, what they are doing and make changes for the better.

How many times have you heard people say “I would love to do something different” and the remainder of the sentence hanging in the air and not uttered probably goes something like this “but I really can’t be bothered” or “but it’s all too difficult”.

I believe that the main reason for not changing how we are is not because of any external influences but because of what is inside us.  It’s that wee inner voice that sometimes tells us “don’t try it, people will laugh at you” or “you’ll never be able to do that” or “I know lots of people that tried to do that and it didn’t work”.  It’s really easy to talk ourselves out of doing something and oh so hard to acknowledge the many strengths we all have inside of us.

If I could just share with you some of the questions and soul searching I did before I changed my life for the better:

Could I do something I love and earn at the same time? Absolutely – so I sought out those who do both, studied what they did and learned from them.

Listened to my inner voice – don’t we all have this, that niggling wee voice that tells us we can’t do something, lots of people have tried and failed and we will also.  Don’t listen to it!  Make a list of your inspirations and keep adding to it.  As you come across an obstacle that might stop you getting there, quickly jot down a way you can get over that obstacle then cross it right off because it’s no longer an obstacle right?

Beware of procrastinating, talking yourself out of an idea or finding reasons why something wouldn’t work

Keep that goal alive - put a picture of where you want to be – it may be living in that big house, driving that fast car or just enjoying luxury holidays with loved ones.  Have a big picture of that dream stuck on the refrigerator, in the car, by your bedside – in fact everywhere around the house.

Do everything with a purpose – that purpose being that goal you are aiming for.  If you find yourself doing time consuming things that are not in pursuit of that goal then question your motives for doing them.

Finally, Never Ever Give Up On Your Dream

What Should I Do With My Life?  This is a $10 Million question – My advice would be the very same advice I gave myself – do what I love to do, it helps and doesn’t hurt anyone else, allows me freedom to make my own decisions on how I live my life and is relatively stress free.  Want a piece of that?

As we get towards the end of 2009, I thought I’d take a bit of time to reflect on where I’m at personally in comparison to this time last year.

At the end of last year and having worked on an extremely demanding and mentally draining task in my corporate role, I was in work and thinking “I need another huge challenge similar to that, I need to be working pro-actively, making decisions, devising strategic plans and working alongside my fantastic team to deliver outstanding results.

It didn’t happen and much as I tried to be pro-active and forward thinking, proposing several suggestions based on sound business sense and customer service, others who needed to endorse the proposed changes were much more risk averse than I was.

Working in career guidance we teach a model called the alignment model and this basically outlines that your needs and wants have to be in alignment with the organisation you work for.  If you are out of alignment then you need to either find that motivator, that driver outside of work to feel fulfilled, or you need to look for another job.

I didn’t want to look for another job because I really love and believe in what I do, I work alongside a fantastic team who are well motivate, embrace change and constantly come up with new and exciting ideas that we discuss then implement.

So what did I do?  Well I found the challenge I was seeking by joining a Home Business opportunity with the full intention of making it a success and eventually working from home full-time.

I have to say however, I had absolutely no idea about internet marketing or how to make money online.  I knew how to surf the net and send email but that really was about the extent of it.  Now I have so much learning under my belt, I amaze myself sometimes by things I do know but thought I didn’t if that makes sense.

5 months down the road and I’m still working in my management role and running my business part-time.  That however is my choice.  Financially I could leave now but something inside of me is saying “don’t do it just yet”.

You see, I still have lots I want to do in my job, changes I want to see implemented, some of which I have personally proposed and many of these will happen in 2010.  I also don’t feel I’m ready to leave the team and sit at home on my own.  Although I love to work on my own at times, I also enjoy going to work in the morning, having a laugh with the others and seeing great results every day.

If you’re reading this blog post and you are working in a position that often leaves you unfulfilled, why not consider doing what I did and finding that challenge in something else.  You definitely won’t regret it, that’s for sure and may find like I did, that this is something I should have done years ago.

If you want to get started, just fill in your details at the top of this post and I’ll help you get started on your road to financial freedom (if that’s what you want) or get you to a point where YOU can sack YOUR BOSS!  How good would that feel?

As I sign off now with only 3 days left of this old year, I have to say it’s been fantastic, rewarding, challenging at times but just like any other year I have had, I wouldn’t have changed anything.  Everything I do and have done has been for a reason and it’s all been worthwhile.

Every day’s a school day and a day you haven’t learned something new, is a day wasted!

It wasn’t so long ago that employment stability was the hallmark of an emotional maturity and reliability.  After all, our parents and their parents were of the mindset that if you do a good job, then that is you set up for life.  Those days are well and truly gone now and today’s culture lends itself to doing a good job, but only short-term.  New skills are quickly learned then taken elsewhere and the average time spent by the younger workforce is 2-3 years in any one job.  Most people expect to change jobs several times in their working lives, and some may even change their career.

We are healthier today and are more productive longer so we have time to gain experience in several types of work, not just one.  The marketplace changes so rapidly that many careers today are unrecognisable from their forms even 5 years ago, and some have even disappeared altogether!

Some people are being forced into transition for many reasons, not least of all by the world recession that well over one year later is still looming over the world.

So, is it too late to change your career at 50?

Speaking as someone who did and has never looked back, I say most definitely not.  I feel more productive now than at any other time in my life.  I have many work and life experiences under my belt, have accomplished most of the things I wanted to although for many years I knew I wanted to do something different with my professional life.  I knew I no longer wanted to work ‘for’ anyone, I wanted more control over my life and I most definitely did not want to commute to work every day.  So, I chose to work from home within online marketing and have never looked back.  My one regret is that I did not do it years ago.

What is the best career change for someone at 50?

Make a list of the elements of your current work that give you satisfaction?  Is it the people you work with?  The tasks you perform?  They way you feel about yourself when you have achieved a goal?  The geographical location of your job?  The nature of the industry?  How your work benefits your customers?  By doing this, you will draw up a list of what your motivators and strengths are and will reach a conclusion of the type of career you want versus what you most definitely do not want.   Once you have done this exercise, then a free career self assessment tool can be found here.  I am receiving no financial gain for promoting this link.

What career change opportunities are available for someone over 50?

If you are looking to work in a home based opportunity, then the fact that you are 50 or over is most definitely a major plus.  You will undoubtedly have all the relevant transferrable skills to make a success of running your own business.  As a graduate from the University of Life, your skills set will consist of people skills, adaptability, flexibility, results orientated, can do attitude, strong work ethic, motivation, determination and a sound knowledge and vision of what you want to achieve.  With a positive mindset anything is possible and if you believe in yourself, you know you are worth it then what is there in the world to stop you achieving your dream.

If you want to continue in a JOB then you may find that some employers are ageist despite their best efforts not to be.  Many still fail to see the value in a more experienced employee, preferring to opt for someone younger who in fitting with the culture, will probably move on after a year or two.  Some employers on the other hand actively embrace the more experienced person, realise their value and the commitment and loyalty they will bring.

Career change at 50 – how fulfilled do you feel?

Remember your earlier dreams and think back to those careers you dreamed about when you were younger.  You probably had some big, idealistic ideas for your future as a child, and you might have abandoned them prematurely in favour of more seemingly practical choices.

Perhaps the time to realise those dreams is now.  Refresh your memory of what those early dreams were and how they made you feel about yourself when you imagined doing your dream work.  Now you are equipped with more world knowledge and a more adult intellect, how many different real careers can you list that would realise or resurrect those feelings?

Living my dream now

I never thought for one minute that I would be working in an online business.  I am living the life I always wanted, I am able to make lots of money online and all this despite having a very little knowledge of IT.  The business I joined is a Turnkey business so it had everything all there that I needed to get up and running and into profit quickly.  I have no end of video and audio tutorials and had the luxury of a mentor, a real person to help me get up and running.  I am fortunate enough now to be a mentor of others and spent a lot of time helping my team during the initial stages.  This combines 2 of my main strengths, one is helping others succeed and two is learning something new each and every day.  My motto throughout life is ‘a day wasted is a day I haven’t learned something’.

Finding job satisfaction – employee satisfaction is not the only thing that matters

Are you in a job you are unhappy with?  Do you feel you are stuck in a rut and just cannot get out of it?  Do you get up each morning with the dread of going into work and wishing you could just do anything else?  If so, this article is for you and I will go some way to explaining why this is and what you can do about it.

Why am I unhappy in my job?

There is no end of reasons for being unhappy in your job but the fundamental reason why most people are unhappy in their job is they are out of alignment with the organisation they are working with.  It is okay to have the occasional day that you feel down, do not really want to be there, and so long as it is the occasional day then is perfectly normal and all workers experience i at some time in their career.  Your personal situation could be a major factor, perhaps there is something going on in your life that really needs looking at but you have to go into work each day with matters unresolved.

If these feelings are prolonged and become an almost daily occurrence, then this diagram below may explain why that is.

Strike a New Career Deal, Carole Pemberton

Alignment model explained

To be happy and successful in any job, you need to be in alignment with the organisation and it with you.  What this basically means is that your needs, wants and values must be similar and a match with the employer.  It is crucial that when applying for any job you check your alignment with the organisation.  Where you cannot do this fully prior to interview, then you need to ask the relevant questions at this point to check your needs, wants and values match what they are looking for.  If this is not the case and you are just taking the job out of pure necessity, then the chances of you gaining the job satisfaction you want and deserve and greatly minimised.

If you do not take the time to get the career you want, be prepared to take what you get; George Bernard Shaw

Who am I?

For example, if you are an ambitious individual, enjoy making decisions and working off your own initiative but you have a manager who micro-manages everything you do, then you are going to be unhappy in your job.  You probably feel you are not trusted, your efforts go unacknowledged and whatever you do is microscopically examined and this can quickly demotivate and demoralise.

If on the other hand you see the workplace as revolving around you, i.e. you want to spend time surfing the net, keeping up with your social networking friends and work is getting in the way, then you need to be asking yourself “what is the company paying me to do here”?  Am I in the right job?  Could I not do what I am paid to do and use my lunch break to do my own thing?  Would it be okay to use the company PCs to do this and providing you produce the goods when you are paid to do so, this could normally be negotiated with your employer.

Check your own alignment

• When was the last time you left work thinking “I really enjoyed today and am looking forward to going back in tomorrow”?  Now this may be some time ago, but I strongly urge you to come up with a day you felt like that.
• What was so good about that day?
• What was I doing that I enjoyed?
• Who or what made me feel so good?

What you may come up with is something like:

• I was given a last minute task to do with a very tight deadline and I achieved it
• An idea I had proposed was implemented
• I went that extra mile and a customer left really happy and commented on the excellent service I had provided
• I was selected ahead of my peer group to undertake a fairly difficult task
• My line manager singled me out for praise

Thinking about all of the above and coming up with an example, start analysing it and within that example you will find what your strengths and motivators are.  For example, if you chose the last minute task point, you will find your strengths and qualities could be something like:

• Working under pressure
• Working to tight deadlines
• React effectively to rapidly changing priorities (dealing with fast balls)
• Solution focussed
• Can do attitude
• Adjust priorities accordingly to meet customer needs
• Sense of urgency