The Secret to a Successful Career Change: Don’t Skip the Hard Part

By Caleb Roose

Photo by Taryn Elliott

Career changes can feel daunting, especially for dads. You feel the weight of your dissatisfaction at work, your dreams, and your family’s needs.

While a successful career change isn’t easy, it is possible. And finding a career that fits can make all the difference for you and your family. 

In my experience as a career and life coach, 85% of what it takes to make a successful career change happens before you even apply for a job. 

Here are four essential steps that will help you discern that right next step in your career—and prevent you from landing a new role only to find you’re just as unfulfilled as you were before:

1. Identify Your Values

If you’ve ever felt an unshakable sense of dissonance at work but couldn’t explain why, it may be because your job isn’t aligned with your values. Your values are the foundation of what matters most to you, yet many working dads have never paused to identify them.

Take a moment and ask yourself:

• What is most important to me in my personal and professional life?

• Am I currently living in alignment with these values?

When you’re clear about your values, you can recognize why certain work environments, company goals, or leadership styles make you more frustrated than fulfilled. This clarity can also become a compass for evaluating potential job opportunities and career paths so you can achieve the work-life balance you need.

2. Discover Your Core Motivators

Dissatisfaction at work may also be indicative of a lack of motivation. Every person is wired differently. Core motivators are what naturally energize and engage you. And when you tap into them, you’re more likely to experience “flow,” that state where time seems to disappear, and you feel deeply connected to what you’re doing.

Take a moment to reflect:

• What types of work activities make me lose track of time?

• When do I feel most excited and engaged in my work?

Understanding how to tap into your core motivators can completely change your relationship to work. And when seeking a new job or role, rather than simply looking for a higher salary or better perks, you’ll begin to build a career that makes you thrive.

3. Discern Your Ikigai

Thriving at work happens when what you love to do intersects with what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for. There’s a term for this: it’s called, Ikigai, a Japanese concept that means “reason for being.” When you consider all four factors of Ikigai, you’re much more likely to discover work that feels intrinsically meaningful and rewarding to you. 

To identify your Ikigai, consider your answers to the following questions:

• What am I passionate about?

• What skills or strengths do others consistently recognize in me?

• What problems or needs in the world am I drawn to solving?

• What career opportunities intersect with each of these elements?

After reflecting on the questions above, it’s also important to recognize: You don’t need to fit all of your purpose into a career. As dads, satisfaction and purpose in life come from many places: family, work, hobbies, side hustles, passion projects, spirituality, and/or community engagement and service (to name a few). At the same time, being mindful of all four factors of Ikigai can empower you to make informed decisions about your career. 

4. Explore Aligned Opportunities

Once you’ve clarified your values, motivators, and Ikigai, it’s time to explore careers, organizations, or business opportunities that align with them. While important, resist the temptation to focus solely on pay, title, or location. Instead, consider:

• Does this organization’s culture reflect my values?

• Will this role allow me to tap into my core motivators?

• How does this work align with my Ikigai?

  
  

Most career changers skip these four essential steps and jump straight to updating their resumes, networking, and preparing for interviews. While these job-search tactics are important, they represent just a slice of what it takes to make a truly successful career change.

Without doing the deeper work to understand who you are, what drives you, and what your family needs, you risk ending up in the same state of dissatisfaction you feel now, just in a new role or company.

Need a Guide?

As a career and life coach, I guide working dads through these four critical steps so they can go from feeling stuck to thriving in a career that aligns with their unique values, motivators, and purpose.

If you’re feeling unfulfilled or unsure about your next career move, reach out for a free discovery call—I’d love to help you discern your next step. With the right process and guidance, you can build a career that works for you and your family. 

You can learn more about coaching and check out what my past coaching clients are saying here.