My wonderful 24 year old niece was recently visiting us in our Old Saybrook home. Her boyfriend was revealing some pretty terrible character traits. She knew she wanted to break up with him. But she was afraid of his reaction. “It’s not the right time.” she kept saying.
Her boyfriend was borderline abusive so I felt the need to dramatically shift her. “Remember when my Mom died?” I asked. She nodded. “The morning of Christmas Eve. Was that a good time to pass away? When is? Would if she died some random day during the year? Would we have been happier?”
For most big shifts, particularly stressful one, there never is a “good time”. In relation to career change, the most common reason given for staying in an unhappy career is “its not a good time.”
Having lived through early life changes, I can tell you that outside of college graduation, there is no scheduled time period for career change. Career change will interrupt your life.
It won’t feel like the right time in relation to family developments. “I just got married…” “I just had a child…” “I have two young kids…” “I have kids heading to college…”
Unless you come into money, it won’t feel like the right time in relation to finances. And it sure won’t feel like the right time in relation to a career path because whatever path you are currently on will be a few steps ahead of your new career path. “I just made senior manager…”.
When is the right time to begin the process of career change?
NOW.