When Small Changes Won’t Do: Making the Leap to a Better Life

If you feel like you’re in a rut, you might be thinking about making some big changes. While you can’t run away from your problems, sometimes you do need to take a big leap in order to seize the life you want. The key to success is good planning. With a blueprint in mind, you’ll be able to weather the challenges that you meet and transform your life.

Going Back to School

Whether you never finished your bachelor’s degree or are thinking of returning to school to train for a new career, further education can be a great way to change your life. Your work experience will be considered a plus in many programs even if it is not directly related to your new field of study. To prepare for a return to school at a nontraditional age, be sure that you understand the prerequisites you need and have worked out the financial side of things. You might be able to transfer past credits. You should also look into any available loans, grants and scholarships. Both federal and private loans may be available to you. You can look online for student loan lenders to compare offers and interest rates.

Changing Your Job

Maybe you don’t want to do something quite as drastic as moving into another line of work. You may simply need to look for a new job. Whether you feel like your skills are stagnating, there’s little room for advancement at your current employer or you simply aren’t happy there any longer, a job change can open up many new opportunities. Depending on your industry, networking can be an important part of seeking a new job. You may want to contact recruiters. If you’ll be submitting your resume in response to job boards, be sure you have designed it to have the keywords automated software will look for.

Starting a Business

It might be riskier and scarier than changing careers or jobs, but there are also few things as fulfilling as working for yourself. When it comes to starting your own business, the best approach might not be taking the plunge but easing yourself into the water gradually. If you can keep your day job while working on your business in your off hours, this gives you the security of a regular paycheck and an opportunity to test the waters of self-employment with little risk. Later, when you feel more established, you can transition to running your own business full time.

Moving to a New Place

Both going back to school and changing jobs could mean moving to a new place, but you might also feel the need to move to fulfill other dreams. Perhaps you’ve spent your life in the city dreaming of a quiet country home or vice versa. Depending on the nature of your job, you might not need to find a new one as more companies are increasingly open to having remote workers. If this isn’t possible, consider delaying your move until you’ve found a job in your new area unless you have a lot of savings.