When people contact me requesting my help in their career transition, I like to assess how motivated they are in that first conversation. It's important for me to be able to identify whether they are prepared for the rocky journey that awaits them. It reminds me of one of my favourite childhood movies, the Wizard of Oz. Here, we have the main character Dorothy who realizes that she is 'no longer in Kansas City' and she longs to go home.
The Good Witch of the North tells her that she must follow the yellow brick road in order to find the Wizard who will help her to get home. That was her goal. Your goal might be to find fulfilling work and to get away from a meaningless job. So you seek help - someone who can tell you exactly what to do to get to where you're meant to be. Yes there is a pathway you will need to follow and it often starts off being quite straightforward. However the path is not always clear and there are always many obstacles in the way. The metaphorical lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) could be related to confidence or limiting beliefs you have about yourself or the world of work. They could even be the naysayers who happen to be your nearest and dearest. All of these barriers have the power to hinder or even stop your progress. I have seen it happen many times before.
Fortunately Dorothy never gave up, thanks to the support of friends and a new found bravery that she never thought she had. Without wishing to sound cheesy, you can do the same. I can give you many examples of people who have made a successful career transition, including myself. It will mean stepping out of your comfort zone and perhaps doing things which you're not 100% convinced will work (clicking your heels 3 times is not part of my career programme, by the way). It's about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. It's about having accountability and support. It's about never giving up and believing that somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.