Want to learn a 5-step framework to help you find a more fulfilling career?
In this article, I will introduce you to the 5-Step Career Design framework and share my story of how I made a big career change from an entertainment lawyer to an executive career and leadership coach.
If you are sick of struggling in your job search, struggling to figure out what you want to do next, and wishing you could find a fulfilling career that is personally and financially rewarding then this Career Design framework is for you.
More specifically, you will learn:
- When is the right time to make a career change;
- How to choose the right job based on research;
- How to get your network to help you;
- How to stand out in the job market;
- And, how to overcome any concerns, insecurity, or lack of clarity that is keeping you stuck.
And you will learn how to get past the three most common challenges to finding fulfilling work:
- A lack of clarity
- A lack of strategy
- A lack of confidence
But this is more than another “how-to” article. While having the right strategy is important most people feel stuck because of their fear of failure. I will be sharing the best mindset frameworks that helped my clients to overcome negative thinking and get out of their own way.
5-Step Career Design Framework
The Career Design Framework is a comprehensive job search and career change process that gives you the clarity, strategy, and confidence you need to land your ideal job. It combines the best strategies from personal development, design thinking, networking, and personal branding to create an effective job search solution that helps you:
Step 1. Reflect
Clarify what you want and what is important to you
Identify and overcome fears and limiting beliefs that are holding you back
Develop the confidence to go after what you want
Step 2. Connect
Build quality relationships with professionals who can help you advance your career
Step 3. Learn
Network and learn from industry insiders about roles you think you are interested in so that you can understand if they are right for you or not and build relationships with people who can become your internal referrals.
Identify your strengths and how to best sell yourself to potential employers
Step 4. Test
Strategically validate various career options so that you pick the right one instead of wondering if you are going to like it or not.
Step 5. Build
Create a compelling personal brand to attract the right kinds of professional opportunities and stand out in the job market.
To download the 5-Step Career Design Framework scroll to the bottom of this article.
Why is this important?
Because you are too smart and capable to be stuck in an unfulfilling role when you could be doing something that is both personally and professionally rewarding. You owe it to yourself to find a job that is the right fit to match your desire for growth, challenge, creativity, and impact. You owe it to yourself to find the right organization and team that treats you right and makes you feel valued. You owe it to yourself mentally, emotionally, and financially to become the best version of yourself.
From Lawyer to Career Coach
As an executive career coach, I’ve worked with many clients over the past decade who needed help solving a fundamental question, “How do I figure out what I want to do next?”
I have a similar story. I’m a former entertainment lawyer turned executive career coach. While at first, I enjoyed my work and was thrilled with what I was doing, after a couple of years I realized it was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
I wanted a more fulfilling career, one that was a better fit, yet I felt lost, stuck, and frustrated because I couldn’t figure out what that was or how to get it.
When I first meet with clients, I hear them say things like,
“I’ve been working in this field for most of my career. I need help figuring out what I want to do next.”
“I don’t find my work meaningful or fulfilling. I want to do something I love.”
“I want to do something else, I want a change, but I just don’t know what that is.”
“I’m unhappy, I’m not challenged. I’m looking for something that is a better fit.”
The common theme for me and my clients was that we were ready for a career change, wanted to do something new, find a better fit, find a more fulfilling career, or create more work-life balance but we had no idea what we wanted to do, how to get there, and worst of all we feared failing. The uncertainty and fear were paralyzing.
That is until I learned what it really took to find a more fulfilling carer. It had less to do with resumes, job titles, and job boards, and more to do with clarity, confidence, and courage.
My aha moment came when I was able to address my fear, rather than let it trap me, I learned how to push it aside, take small meaningful steps that reduced the uncertainty, and helped me see a clear path forward.
Let me show you how to do the same.
Being unhappy Was My Wake-Up Call
At the beginning of my career change journey, I was a 30-something attorney, working in New York City. I landed my dream job right out of law school working in-house for Def Jam records, the iconic hip-hop label where I got to work on albums by Jay-Z, Rhianna, and Nas.
But as time went on and the shine of the entertainment industry wore off the job became less exciting and more mundane. My day-to-day consisted of drafting and negotiating contracts on behalf of a big corporation. It was a far cry from my dream of representing artists and helping them build their music careers. I wanted fulfillment and meaning. Instead, I felt like a cog in a big machine. I spent my days doing legal research, editing boilerplate contracts, and drafting memos. Not to knock the important work lawyers do, but it just wasn’t for me.
This was my career crossroads moment. I knew I needed to find a new career path, one that would be fulfilling, rewarding, and lucrative. But I had no idea what I wanted to do next. This frustration was what set me on the path to finding a more meaningful career that would be the right fit for me.
Clients have shared similar stories of knowing when it was time for a career change or to look for a new job.
Feeling unchallenged: “I don’t feel challenged. I’ve been doing the same thing with the same company for too long.”
Floating along: “I’m not even sure how I ended up here. I kind of just took the next job that came along and 20 years later here I am.”
Being intentional: “I want to be more intentional about my next step. I don’t want to do the next obvious thing. I want to explore my options.”
Not in the right place: “I don’t like what I’m doing, it is not the right fit for me.”
If this sounds like you then take this as your career wake-up call moment. Rather than feel stuck or frustrated by your career dissatisfaction, use it as a sign that it is time to look for something better.
Getting Past The Fear Of Failure
I started my job search thinking about what I wanted to do next. I thought about what interested me, researched industries and companies, and reached out to friends to learn more about what they did. I knew I needed to do my research to ensure I picked the right career path. But beyond that, I wasn’t making much progress. Through my research, I either learned about careers that would not be a good fit for me or they felt too far out of my reach. After all, I didn’t have the right experience to do something new even if it looked interesting.
Underlying those practical concerns was a fear of failure. Why would I leave a stable and respectable career that I already invested years in to try something new? What if it didn’t work out? What if I choose the wrong job again? What would people think?
It was at this time I met a coach who taught me a valuable lesson that got me unstuck. I was making the classic mistakes of overthinking and catastrophizing.
As an overthinker, I was trying to mastermind the whole process in my head. I was trying to go from step 1 to step 100 in one mental leap and it felt impossible. I was looking for certainty. I wanted to avoid failure. But because I had no idea what my end goal looked like I couldn’t create the perfect plan. This uncertainty kept me paralyzed and stuck at step one.
I was also focused on the worst possible outcomes. Failing looked like choosing the wrong career path, not being successful, and embarrassing myself. Would I be homeless living under a bridge? How would I recover if I made the wrong choice? What would my family think?
I learned that when you focus on what can go wrong your brain sees it as a sign of danger and you naturally avoid taking any actions toward what feels like danger.
My coach helped me see that my negative thinking was holding me back from doing simple, practical, effective things to help me find a new career path. After all, making a career change and finding a new job isn’t a unique problem. People do this every day using proven methods. The real challenge was that I had to get out of my own way.
Mindset + Behavior = Results
The most important lesson I learned at the beginning of this process is that your mindset impacts your behavior which impacts your results. A negative mindset leads to negative behaviors which leads to negative results. For example, thinking that making a career change is hard, that I’m not good enough to do anything else, and that people would judge me led to me not taking any meaningful action, which led to me not making any progress in my job search.
In contrast, a positive mindset leads to positive behaviors which leads to positive results. Once I changed my mindset to one where I thought that a career change was possible and I could figure this out, then I started doing things to figure it out, which led to me eventually making a big career change and finding a fulfilling career.
The problem is that most people are not aware of their negative mindset. To them, their limiting beliefs seem practical and rational.
In Stephen Covey’s iconic book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he shares, a powerful concept about our beliefs and perceptions. He says, “how we see the problem, is the problem” meaning our perception dictates how we experience a challenge.
If I see a problem as difficult to solve then I will avoid doing what it takes to solve the problem. In contrast, if I approach a problem with curiosity, creativity, and courage, if I say “this looks hard, but I can figure this out” then I will be more likely to work through the problem with a positive mindset.
My mindset at the beginning of my career change journey was entirely dominated by fear, fear of failure, fear of what other people would think, and fear of never being successful. I focused more on the problem and not the solution. This mindset stopped me from taking the actions I needed to take. After all, if I was so afraid of failure then doing nothing meant I could stay safe in my comfort zone. I call this being stuck in the comfort of your familiar misery.
So how do you move out of your comfort zone? How do you make it less scary and less uncertain? You have to stop thinking like a perfectionist and start thinking like a scientist.
Perfectionists are afraid to make mistakes, they are afraid to fail, and they must have every step planned out in their heads before taking any real actions.
Scientists on the other hand lean into their curiosity. They have an idea that excites them, they create a small test to validate their idea, and use that information to iterate and improve on their idea until they get it right.
I had to let go of my perfectionist tendencies and I had to get out of my comfort zone. I had to do things that I was afraid to do. I had to face my fear of failure and rejection. When I embraced the idea of thinking and acting like a scientist, I simply followed my curiosity, and taking action became easier. I was no longer afraid of failing. I was simply looking for more information. And the more action I took the clearer my path became.
If you have been trying to make a career change and feel stuck in the process it is likely because you are letting your perfectionist tendencies keep you in your comfort zone. Stop asking yourself “What if I fail?” and ask yourself, “What is one thing I can do today to help me move forward?” To be successful in this process it will require you to think and act like a scientist and move from a mindset of fear to a mindset of curiosity.
As you begin this process, commit to examining your beliefs about what is and is not possible. Question your limiting beliefs.
- Are they true or are they fear-based assumptions?
- Are you assuming the worst will happen?
- Are you focused on what you want or what you don’t want?
- Are your beliefs moving you forward or keeping you stuck?
- Are you choosing what you want or settling for something less?
- Are you being true to yourself or doing what is expected of you?
If you are feeling overwhelmed by how hard finding your ideal role will be ask yourself, “What is one small step I can take today to help me reach my goal?”
Conclusion
This is about more than just finding your next job. When you are in the right role you will feel happier, healthier, more successful, and more fulfilled. Don’t ignore that feeling of dissatisfaction. Those nagging little feelings are your wake-up call to take action and make a change. But don’t let the fear of failure stop you. Don’t let overthinking paralyze you. You can practically address your concerns by focusing on what you want and taking small steps toward your goal.
Ready to learn about the next step? Download the whole framework below.
Download The 5-Step Career Design Framework
CALL TO ACTION
Join the Career Design LinkedIn Group and get access to more great articles and resources to help you design a more fulfilling career.
Join the next monthly Career Design Circle event. This is a free event I host where I teach one specific career design strategy and coach a few people live. This is a great opportunity to get support and dive deeper into these powerful strategies. Learn more here.
To get immediate support join my Career Design Small Group Coaching Program where I will coach you along with a small group of like-minded ambitious professionals who are on the path to finding their ideal role with clarity and confidence. Learn more here.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mo Chanmugham, Esq., CPCC, ACC is a former entertainment lawyer turned executive career and leadership coach and the founder of MGC Coaching. He helps ambitious professionals who are feeling stuck gain the clarity and confidence they need to create more fulfilling careers and become better leaders.