How to Take Steps Toward a Career Change

If you're a member of the sandwich generation and thinking about changing your career, Caryn FitzGerald, our guest blogger this week, has some tips for you.

On our Monday post, Caryn asked you whether you want to break free from the corporate world and live the life of your dreams. Here's what she has to say about that. "The answer is simple, follow your heart and don't allow yourself to give up.

1. Ask yourself what is your true passion? What really makes your heart skip a beat or your energy soar? For me, it was helping others move through the challenges they faced in stepping into their own lives. As a woman who has recovered from eating disorders and broken free from abusive relationships, I knew what it was like to feel powerless and out of control. I used those experiences to help others and create the lifestyle I enjoy today. Those feelings effect all of us at one time or another and the ability to identify them and create a support system to assist us through them is crucial.

2. Find a mentor who has achieved the goals you are seeking to accomplish. There is no better mentor than someone who has been where you are and is now where you want to be.

3. Be honest with yourself. What are you willing to give up to make this dream a reality? Be specific! Are you willing to give up television? Eating out with friends? Four dollar a cup gourmet coffee adds up ($120 a month) quickly, are you willing to give up some of the luxuries you enjoy today, to invest in yourself for tomorrow? What is your ultimate goal? Again, be specific. Creating a vision board will allow you to envision the life you are truly seeking to live.

4. Create a business plan. Every successful businessperson has made a detailed plan of what steps they will take, monies they will invest in both the business and themselves and what result is desired.

Do you want to become self-employed with the freedom of working from home? Or purchase a franchise and be the owner while others work for you? Perhaps you want to become part of a team and create residual income as a network marketer. These are just three of many different avenues one can take to create independent income.

Be aware that replacing the income of a corporate job with an income as an entrepreneur can take time. One of the incredible benefits is that one can take small steps, a few spare hours each day, to build the foundation that will allow them, in time, to leave their job. This is not the lottery - it's breaking down and recreating a new way of living. Releasing the old habits and replacing them with new, healthier habits that will serve you in moving into a passionate life.

There will be failures along the way. The key is to remember that in order to succeed one must fail, get back up and continue to move forward. Ask anyone who has achieved the lifestyle they desire how long it took and how many failures they endured along the way and you will learn that success always come with a price. The price includes determination, persistence and resilience. The road to success involves hurdles and failures, yet how quickly you decide to get back up and move forward is up to you. The faster you get back onto that horse, the easier it becomes the next time and eventually you will reach the goal of living the life of your dreams!"

Caryn FitzGerald is a mother, wife, friend, writer, raw foodist, nature lover, teacher, blogger, entrepreneur, coach and overall lover of life! She is an eating disorder and domestic violence survivor. Caryn believes that a full, abundant life can be created and enjoyed regardless of one’s past. Today she assists others in creating the life of their dreams. Connect with Caryn.

If you want more information as you begin your search, these ideas and video may help. And here's material specifically for midlife career change. Sign the email list to the left of this post to receive our free monthly newsletter, Stepping Stones and download our ebook about how to reach your goals.

Breaking Free: Changing Your Career

Here on the blog we're always talking about how boomers in the sandwich generation can manage the challenges of parents growing older and kids growing up. And for many of you, work is a major part of that equation. So if you're less than thrilled with your career and have been thinking about making a change, we have a treat for you.

This week we're featuring Caryn FitzGerald, a guest blogger who will discuss her career change and offer some tips so you can make some changes too. Here is Caryn's view out of the window of her home office and her story:"Fourteen years ago, I graduated from college ready to take on the world. After two decades of education, I walked across the stage, received my master’s degree and into the world of corporate America. My corporate career didn’t last long though as mentors began to share the possibilities available to me as an entrepreneur and I allowed my heart to be open to receive this knowledge, changing the direction of my life’s path forever.

If I had known the details of the options available before I went to college, would this information have made a difference in the path I had chosen? Probably not. But it would have allowed me to be better prepared for what was in store for me upon graduation. It would have given me the ability to make better choices, not be fearful of creating a lifestyle instead of living a life. I would have learned sooner that I had options instead of believing that, in order to survive, I had to be tied to corporate America as an employee with a job.

Jim Rohn once said JOB is an acronym for "Just Over Broke." This is what the vast majority are conditioned to believe is the only means of making a living. It is very rare that a child is told, "don't worry about going to college, find what you feel passionate about, follow your heart and money will flow into your life."

What if there was a way to have the ability to earn as much income as you desire? To decide how many hours a day you would devote to creating an income? To grant you the ability to spend time with family and loved ones without worrying about having more money left over after the bills have all been paid in full? What if the secret to entry into this lifestyle was 100% yours?

The secret lies deep within each of us and, although often brushed against, it is not always recognized or acted upon. Unfortunately, the voice of fear speaks loudly, and many will give in, conforming to the societal norms of working a job instead of following their hearts desire.

What if you could take small steps each day that would allow you to break free from the corporate world and live the life you dream about when you close your eyes each night?

This is possible." Log on here Wednesday, readers, to find out how!

In the meantime, if you want to get started, learn more about Caryn FitzGerald. And check out this website where you'll find lots of articles about career change, from to how to make a hobby work for you to adapting your career in a tough economy.

Generativity is word coined by Dr. Erik Erickson in the 1950s - it describes a stage of psychosocial development when people want to give back to future generations. Here's a Huffington Post article by Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures, about boomers transitioning to an encore career of public service.