Do. Meet. Be: A model of career change

Taking action is the secret to a successful career and to getting out of a career rut. This three part blog series looks at how people can shift gears to stop thinking their careers to death when stuck in a rut. Too often we see people dream of possibilities and dream of changing, but don’t take any action.

Traditional career planning doesn’t work if you feel stuck in a rut. The traditional approach is: understand your strengths and interests; make a plan; then implement the plan. The problem is that the shift is too difficult – it’s too much of a leap to go from current rut to utopian goal.

Instead, I recommend a three step approach called the Do-Meet-Be model of career change.

Step 1: Do. Go out and start doing things differently. If you’re interested in shifting to a different profession, go and volunteer in their industry association or get involved at the grassroots level. “Do” is about taking action, like speaking to people to broaden your horizons and becoming inquisitive to find out what careers are out there. Often we don’t know what it is family members or friends actually do, so that’s a great starting point. People get stuck because they don’t know what’s out there or what the possibilities are. At a practical level, get involved with activities outside your normal realms of career focus and related in some way to what you are curious about.

Next week, Step 2: Meet will come into focus.