Today, you’re likely dealing with events and challenges you never predicted you’d encounter in your lifetime. Between February and April 2020, the national unemployment rate increased by 11.2 percentage points . You’re likely unsure if now is even the time to change your career. However, history shows us that businesses, governments, and individuals all adapted to survive monumental events and the workforces always recovered.
Several months since the start, individuals and industries are looking to adapt their way of life. Virtual music festivals and birthday parties prove there is more to life than mere survival. And, as you begin to hear more about rebuilding when the world is “back to normal,” you might ask yourself, “what does the future look like for me?”
You can find comfort in maintaining a positive perspective on the pandemic to limit some of the stress you may feel. You could choose to remember the increased virtual connection with family, the reduced commute time, and the freedom to binge-watch TV to your hearts’ content. Earlier this year, you likely indulged in entertainment, but ultimately started feeling guilty about not being more productive.
The phenomenon that is Newton’s First Law of Motion is, “An object at rest stays at rest while an object in motion stays in motion.” Your sluggishness can be used as stepping stones on your path to the version of yourself you’ve always wanted to be.
Moving Up
Your inherent strengths have gotten you to the position you’re in today, and, to feel truly fulfilled in your work, you should be utilizing these strengths daily. While you may be feeling less motivated at home, it’s time to rediscover your strengths, hone your skills, and build yourself up with the help of technology. With millions of opportunities at your fingertips, you can take advantage of this moment to identify and pursue your dream career.
Educators and technologists alike have propelled the evolution of technology and begun publicizing the need for comprehensive, at-home education. Zoom, a worldwide video conferencing company, saw such increased use the last few months that they revamped all security measures and added unique features. Structured, online classes and virtual training are a few online education opportunities utilizing technologies like Zoom to facilitate virtual training.
Professional bootcamps and development programs in digital technology subjects are growing in popularity all around the world. Harnessing your strengths and pursuing your career aspirations requires dedicating your free time to learning new skills. By devoting yourself to researching and learning about the fields of work that interest you most, you start planning a career move that, before the pandemic, you thought was out of reach.
It’s time to reinvent the version of yourself that will emerge from this pandemic. As a human being, you are biologically driven to develop new skills, passions, and projects to feel fulfilled with your daily life. To ensure you can successfully change careers, try and keep an open mind about the journey ahead and understand that there will be setbacks and challenges. But, working towards happiness and fulfillment in everyday life demands the courage to start.
Growth is a State of Mind
Will you remember 2020 as the year you spent scrolling through social media and rewatching movies you’ve already watched? Figure out if the future you are heading towards is the one you always dreamed of or one you’re settling for. Even in the time of coronavirus, you can begin preparing for a career change through education, work experience, and virtual connections. No matter your chosen path, venturing down a new career trajectory requires you to navigate challenges and setbacks with understanding and patience.
To succeed, you must enlist the support of friends and family, draw a map to get to where you aspire to be, and have faith in your determination not to quit. If you fear failure in your career, you may never know how genuinely fulfilling a job can be. This year could be the year you invest all your energy into education, devote yourself to learning something you always wanted to learn, and find the courage to change career paths against all the odds.
Choosing to remain complacent or waiting for the familiar comforts of a pre-COVID world will ensure you enter 2021 in the same place you began in 2020. You must take advantage of the air of change encircling the world and decide if the free time you dedicate to entertainment is conducive to your overarching goals.
Take the first step to change your career today.
Discover a New Pathway
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