subject: Thinking Of A Midlife Career Change? Know Your Options! [print this page] Deciding on a midlife career change might be something that you really need, or something that you just have to do in order to survive. It's not simple, but if you play your cards right, it can be fun, exciting, and extremely profitable for you and your family, also.
There are lots of things to anticipate with a midlife career change, but the smartest thing to have to make this call work is to be certain that those near and dear to you understand the reasons and are ready to support you in this challenge.
Trading Up
To paint a clearer picture, it is like trading in your old auto for a more moderen one. The old car has been with you for a bit and has been part of your life. You know its little ticks, and perhaps even given it its own personality. But the actuality is that the car is more difficulty to keep, and if you put your emotional attachments aside, you'll see that getting a new car is the better and simpler choice. It's never easy, though, whether or not the new car has more features and will take you to more places than the old automobile ever will. That's how it is with a midlife career change : you will be trading your'old life' with a new one.
Flying the Coop
The biggest hurdle is leaving your comfort sector, but as Captain Kirk announces,'What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.' And a midlife career change definitely won't kill you. It will just give you a different life. You'll still get to keep some of your old life's experience and lessons learned, and a lot of these will be helpful to you in your new life. But be cautious about the things that you do decide to take with you because habits die hard, and some of those habits are bad ones that you are now given the chance to get rid of.
Going high-tech
If you're going to make that midlife career change, might as well make the best of what the newest technology has to offer . This is a way for you to get the best of both worlds. You'll still have the experience that you have gained from all the years that you have worked, and be ready to apply it to one of the fastest growing and most resilient industry in today's market, the net market.
Keeping up with the most recent technology can be quite a journey, and one that will surprise you in many ways each single day. Many of the programs and software are also highly customizable that you can easily make it fit your special needs with a few tweaks. Most applications are so'user-friendly' that even your grandchildren ( if you have any ) can learn how to use them , and in the case of social network platforms ( Facebook, MySpace, etc . ), they probably already do. Give them a chance to teach YOU something new, and have fun while you're at it.
Living up to the Challenge
This is another area where your experience will come in useful because there are a lot of'human' things that can only be learned by working with so many throughout the years. There will continue to be some characters that will surprise you, but generally, you would likely know the way to deal with them.
Patience is also a virtue that folks who have been around some time will develop, and it will help you a lot when you're still trying to feel your way round the net community if you must decide that this is the trail to follow in your midlife career change.