If You Think You Cant Change Course... Youre Right

You've heard the expression that some people see the glass as half full while others perceive the same glass to be half empty? Yesterday I had the opportunity to see this difference in perception in action.

My father and I drove to the airport to pick up my some family members visiting from Florida. It was 100 degrees and muggy. "Knowing" there wouldn't be any parking spaces close to the terminal, my father was inclined to head directly to the back lot where we'd be sure to find a space.

I, on the other hand, was inclined to start with the row closest to the terminal and work my way back. Since my father was literally in the driver's seat, he reluctantly agreed to check out the last row in the front lot. If we didn't find something there, he said, we'd proceed directly to the back lot. Not only did we find a spot, but as we were walking to the terminal we passed a primo front row space. His response? "It probably wouldn't have been there when we were looking."

In other words, I prefer to think that things will work out. My Dad presumes they will not. Not surprising, during his adult life my father held two jobs. He was horribly exploited in his first job and left only at my mother's constant urging. He stayed at his second job for over 30 years. In part, father's long job tenure has to do with that fact that he is a product of at time when there was a different set of rules regarding employer-employee loyalty. You got a good (or even a not so good) job and you stuck with it for life.

There is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with staying in the same job or town or anything else for an extended period of time. My mother's family has lived in this same area of Massachusetts since the 1600s. My father's family came at the turn of the last century. I love it here in what is known as the Pioneer Valley and despite feeling tremendous pressure after graduating from college to go somewhere new, I have never had any desire to move anyplace else on a permanent basis.

When staying in one job or place too long IS cause for concern though, is when it is not driven by a sense of contentment but by the belief that things will not work out anyway, so why bother. A lousy attitude will kill a dream faster than just about anything else.


If you find yourself automatically driving to the back lot of life, maybe it's time to do an attitude check:

  • Do you see yourself as deserving of happiness?

  • Do you think things will probably work out for the best and if they don't, do you see that as an opportunity to try again?

  • Do you see yourself as the director of your life or as a bit player operating from someone else's script?

  • Do you think that life generally has it out for you and therefore it is hopeless to even try to change your life? Or do you see life as Helen Keller once described it as being, "an exciting adventure or nothing at all"?

Pessimists THINK a lot about changing course; unfortunately those with a negative attitude rarely ever act on their dreams. If you are prone to pessimism but really DO want to go after your dream of a more meaningful work/life, you may need to first practice viewing things from a positive perspective.

Moving from a pessimistic, hopeless view to an optimistic, hopeful one will not happen over night. It is a goal that must be worked on one day at a time. Start by taking one situation each day and trying to reframe it from a glass half-full perspective. Fake it if you have to. After a while you will find yourself readily being able to not only see the glass of life as half full, but enjoying a long, quenching drink from it as well.

When it comes to successfully changing course, attitude really is every thing. That's because as Henry Ford once put it, "If you think you can or if you think you can't, you're right."

"Off the beaten career path" consultant, Valerie Young, abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at http://www.ChangingCourse.com, offering free resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Her career change tips have been cited The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend, Redbook, Entrepreneur's Business Start Ups, and on-line at MSN, CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, she's presented her How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are program to thousands of people.

More Resources

Are You Sabotaging Your Career?
My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for the past two decades teaches me that most leaders are screwing up their careers.On a daily basis, these leaders are getting the wrong results or the right results in the wrong ways.
Job Search Secret #1
The job search secret that is so powerful it will blow your socks off is simple - if you think you want or need a Career Change all you have to do is understand this Job Search Secret:It's simple - Change your Thinking.When you're looking for the new job or career move it's easy to think that 'they' hold all the cards.
Career Success: Get Ahead of the Crowd
Regardless of where you open your briefcase or palm pilot each day - at a large corporation, a small business or the end of your dining room table - the key to staying employable the rest of your life is your own creative action. The person who is going to be successful is not going to succeed just because of good work.
Ideal Job and Handling Criticism
How many times have you been asked, "What is your dream job?"Even if you document a dream job on paper, will you be happy every day in that job? Unlikely. Heck, you could work in your dream job for two different companies and end up being happy in one and miserable in the other.
Get A New Job - Career Choices
Career change is tough but rewardingThere are a number of reasons why people might be due for a career change:? They don't like their current career. Maybe they took the job because they needed money at the time and it was the only work they could find to pay the bills.
Jobseekers! Look For Smoke, Not Fire
"If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always received," said some wise person. This is certainly true when it comes to job-hunting, especially during a "sucky" economy.
5 Resume Mistakes Telecommuters Often Make
Finding a legit telecommute job can be difficult. Telecommute jobs are in high demand and hundreds if not thousands of other people are competing for the same position.
Should I leave My Job?
Most of us have to work for a living. Since we spend so many hours each week at our jobs, it's very important that there is a good fit.
Active Listening Skill Tips for Interviews
During a job interview, a potential employer asks, "Can you take on more than one project at a time?" If you respond, "Yes," you may want to rethink that answer. According to Dynamic Listening: Interview Skills, a computer based training module from Mindleaders in Columbus, Ohio, you should avoid one-word or one-sentence answers.
Defining Success Your Way!
In my career advising practice, I often find that my clients are not clear about what success means for them. Our society defines success primarily around three elements: power, money and fame.
Planning To Work Abroad
Working abroad can be an exciting, rewarding and horizon broadening experience; and if you take the time to plan ahead carefully before you go, you will make your transition into the overseas work place a smooth and successful one.So, if you're considering relocating overseas to take up a temporary assignment or you'd like to move abroad permanently and find work there are basically three main aspects of expatriation that you need to think about before you make your move and this article examines them for you.
Where Did All The Farmers Go?
Several times a year, I hear someone complain about the development of farm land in our area. These complainers consider it a crime that so much of our farm land has been converted to housing, business, shopping, etc.
Why Well Produced Career Portfolios Are Replacing CVs
What is a Career Portfolio?The original portfolio used by artists looking for work was simply a collection of works demonstrative of the artists style and ability. Because their works varied in size and shape, portfolios came in all sizes and shapes.
Surviving Office Politics
It's your first month in a new position and it's rougher going than you'd anticipated. You feel like an outsider and you're miserable.
What is a Career Anyway?
A career is the sum total of all of your work-related contributions to society in a lifetime. This includes time and effort spent to provide goods, services, or benefit to others.
Careers-Changing Jobs: The Fantasy of the Ideal Job
Most people would agree that the concept of a job today is vastly different from that of 20 years ago. Organisations are changing at speed, technology has changed the face and pace of work, and globalisation is pushing every business to examine it's operations in a totally different context.
Great Salary Negotiation Tips
11 Commandments For Smart Negotiating1 - BE PREPARED. The more information you have about your market value and theprospective employer, the greater your likelihood of success.
Yesterdays Hero
Wonder Woman makes it looks so easy. She gets up every morning, fights the good fight, calls it a day, and starts the whole process all over again.
Overcoming Inertia in Job Change
If you can hold on to an optimistic belief in the possibility of success, you have a very powerful motivator of change. But not everyone can, or will need help to do that as some are naturally more optimistic than others.
Lost Your Job? Ten Ways to Bounce Back!
Whether you've been right-sized, downsized, underutilized, or just plain fired, looking for work is a life-changing experience that rocks your world. Regain your equilibrium with these ten strategies and get back to being your best.

More Careers & Employment Information:

Related Articles

Write Resume Keywords That Gets Your Application Read
As children we often used to read stories where magical words can open caves filled with treasures or magicians using words like abracadabra..
How to Make Your Career Change Easier
Despite what your grandmother told you, life is not supposed to be a struggle. The same is true for making a career change.
Now, Do You Have Any Questions?
"Who is that hot babe in the picture?" isn't the type of reply an interviewer expects to hear when he or she invites you to ask questions near the end of an interview. In fact, the way you approach the Q&A session will have a direct impact on the interviewer's perception of you.
Negotiating Skills: How to Obtain the Salary You Want
Salary negotiating is an important topic that must be addressed prior to your initial interview with a prospective employer. Knowing your bottom rate, and being able to live with it [or on it?] is an important thing for candidates to uncover before the first interview.
Are You In A Groove Or A Rut?
Ruts: the routines in our work and lives that have become uninteresting and bothersome.Everyone has a favorite rut or two.
Women Who Quit Work Abrubtly After Childbirth - Are You the Type?
According to statistics one out of every five pregnant women will not return to work. Quitting abruptly after childbirth could wreak havoc on your finances, your career and even your relationship with your partner.
Changing Careers? How to Get Around the Three Major Mental Roadblocks to Success
A part of you can't wait to dive into your new career -- but you're also smart enough to know that you can expect a few bumps along the road to success. By far, the biggest roadblocks exist between your own two ears! Let's take a look at three common mental roadblocks and learn how to overcome them.
Resume Posting: Tips for Jobseekers
Recruiting firms, like most businesses today, must embrace technology in order to prosper. Part of modern recruiting is understanding the value and benefit of internet job boards.
Job Search -- One of the Secrets of a Trade Show
A trade show is a great place to network, look for a job, find a new employee or develop a partnership.Are you in the market for a change? Maybe.
Wishing and Hoping
Years after Disneyland was built, after the completion of Walt Disney World, the story goes that someone went up to Mike Vance, Creative Director for Walt Disney Studios and said, "Isn't it too bad Walt Disney didn't live to see this?" Without pausing, he replied, "But he did see it, that's why it's here."If any outside figure influenced my life early on, it was Walt Disney.
Manage Your Boss - And Get Ahead!
It's clear there are a number of common issues faced by business people across totally unrelated industries and environments. This series was created to provide some perspective and guidance to executives as they negotiate their way up the corporate ladder.
5 Steps to Standing Out Above the Crowd at Work
Do you feel like one in a million at work - and not in a good way? When you run into your boss in the hallway, do you get the impression she isn't sure who you are? Are the juicy projects always going to someone else?If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you need to raise your work profile. Here are some tips to get you started.
Telecommuting Website (Part Two)
Last article I discussed why a telecommuter would benefit from starting a website, and what you should include on the website. This article, I'm going to cover how to market the website and the basics of getting one set up.
Is Your Resume Doing ITS Job?
Is it opening doors to new opportunities? Does it compel the reader to think, "Hey! This applicant can ?put that one on top of the 'call in for an interview' pile!" Does it showcase what you have accomplished for past employers as well as what you can accomplish for the potential employer?Your resume is your personal marketing tool that must immediately convey to the reader that you CAN and WILL be a positive driving force to further their organization's mission. They have a need to QUICKLY get thru all the resumes received in response to their job posting so you've got to QUICKLY grab their attention.
Brainteasers: Or, How Many Crazy Interview Questions Does It Take to Get Hired?
You've looked at all the job interview tips and techniques. Did your homework and studied all the potential employer interview questions you may be asked.
How To REALLY Look For A Job
Are you looking for a job -- really looking? Or are you simply waiting for employment to fall into your lap?If you're like about 75% of the job seekers I've met over the past nine years, you're probably doing too much waiting and not enough searching.Stop.
Free Resume Examples: Untold Wealth In 10 Minutes!
Doesn't every job search start with Google?Way back in another lifetime, I was looking for a job after one of my startups failed. Conveniently, everything went to pot in early 2000.
Does Retirement Fit Into Your Busy Schedule?
Why do you work?Stop and think about it. Other than the income you derive from the various tasks and responsibilities you perform on the job, are there any other reasons you get up every morning before the birds do, drive your car in rush-hour traffic, get into the office and go to several meetings throughout the day that have yet to change life as we know it, and sit at your desk going through all the things you need to go through that are a part of what's been called, work?You've been doing this for a long time.
Students Discover Your Niche By Using Career Assessment
In our ever changing world where job competition is rampant it can be difficult to understand one's strengths and what one wants to do in life.If you feel uncertain about your career path you're not alone.
Sweeping Up Worms
With the opening of a new venture and numerous reporters arriving in an hour, it felt like one of those "chickens with heads off" days. We were close, but not ready.