At one point in my career I had seven lean years. What should we do when that happens?
How I Got There
I’ve taken career risks and failed. Really badly!
In fact, I failed twice during a seven-year period. Once in retail management and once in direct sales.
So, what was the problem?
Well, in both cases, I never generated enough income to adequately cover our basic needs.
Thus, the short answer was I was working hard doing things that I enjoyed and had experience doing.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t a good fit for either position because my strengths were elsewhere.
Don’t forget the painfully true observation: “What got you here will not get you there!” Thus, continue to grow personally and professionally. proverbsforprofessionals.net
How I Moved On
The solution? I made a mid-life change.
How? By admitting that what I was doing wasn’t working. At all!
But, before making the change, I spent time in prayer, counseling, and discussing options with my wife.
As it turned out, the career change involved going back to school to get a Ph.D. Following that, I became a college professor and administrator.
Over the next 30 years, that intentional change worked out very well for me and my family.
All that said, it’s important in lean years to build resilience. Why? So you can keep getting back up, that’s why!
Proverbs 24.16 says that through strength of character we can fail multiple times, but continue to rise up again. proverbsforprofessionals.net
Apply This Today!
We save ourselves lots of stress when we’re clear about WHO we are.
Actually, clarity about WHO we are, paired with discernment, helps keep us out of places where we’re a poor fit!
Failure is an end point only if we choose to stay in that place. So, RISE UP! In so doing you can move on from those seven lean years!
Finally, a question: How has failure positioned you to come out stronger on the other side?