At the age of 45 I was working a job that I loved, but didn’t make much money at. My husband’s announcement that he wasn’t going to stay at his high paying job until retirement woke me up to the realization that I needed to get serious about my earning potential and ability to pay for the life I wanted.
Today I make three times more than I did, am in a position for growth, and building a retirement. The here is how I did it is coming, but before we get to that there is a caveat.
There isn’t one thing that worked and though there were some important things I did, that I would do again, there isn’t a simple formula to life. I found it helpful to learn from others and try things out. Maybe you can do that too and get to where you want to go.
The Big 3
Dogged determination and drive were by far the number one forces that propelled me forward despite what happened during my career transition.
Having a strong drive to achieve goals propelled me forward despite not getting interviews for jobs I was overqualified for. Dogged determination kept me focused on the end goal which gave me the focus and energy to keep applying despite knowing I would have to apply for a dozen more jobs before getting the next interview.
Life-long learner
Being a lifelong learner and having an insatiable appetite for information and understanding served me well. This characteristic was responsible for shaping my view of a career transition as a project.
As a project I knew I needed to conduct research and analysis so I could understand my environment, the job market, identify opportunities and threats, and get advice from experts on the best way to move forward.
This sounds like an intense and perhaps overzealous way to approach finding a new job, but as I consider the status quo of past co-workers who had similar goals, but are still in the same jobs, I don’t feel that intensity failed me.
As part of my research, I talked to life and career coaches, wise and retired career professionals I respected, and met with college academic and career counselors. I spent time analyzing the job market in my geographical area and expanded it to includes areas I was willing to move to.
This leads to agility. Agility was key because it meant I was flexible. I wasn’t looking for one role and one industry.
I accomplished tripling my income after accepting my sixth job, in eight years, and after getting a certificate and completing my MBA. If I hadn’t been agile, I wouldn’t have been willing to try different roles, in different organizations, and look at various industries.
If I hadn’t been driven to achieve a goal I wouldn’t have kept taking the actions needed to raise my income.
If I wasn’t a lifelong learner, I wouldn’t have embraced the journey with the humbleness needed to start over. I had to start over at an age when I started to feel I arrived. Being humble and willing to learn helped me embrace work that felt beneath me so that I could grow and develop in new areas I knew nothing about.
In the end, my character was as important as my education, experience, and qualifications. What I didn’t do was as vital as what I did do.
I look back at co-workers still in the same jobs hoping they will get as lucky as me, but for as long as they rely on luck, they will find themselves in the same place doing the same thing for a long time.
Marcy Pedersen
