Why Now Is the Best Time to Make a Career Change and How to Get Started in 2024
Are you dreaming of a career change so you can pursue meaningful work you love, that harnesses your natural strengths; aligns with your values AND honours your true nature?
You’re not alone.
In fact, we’re in the middle of a huge global shift happening right now where people are choosing to leave the comfort, safety and security of their stable jobs and venture out on their own, starting side hustles, freelancing - or taking the leap to completely change careers altogether.
Welcome to the Future of Work; where AI, Metaverse, Side Hustles, Multi-Hyphenate careers and Hybrid workplaces are the latest buzzwords.
Signs of this phenomenon, coined The Great Resignation, or as I prefer, The Great Awakening - began in 2021 when it was reported that record numbers of people had left their jobs.
The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in July 2021, 4 million people quit their jobs, with the global pandemic serving as a watershed moment for people to reevaluate their lives and career choices.
In Australia, fallout of the Great Resignation hit its peak in early 2022 after most people returned to work in the New Year after having had time to consider their choices over the summer break. The U.K and Ireland has also felt the shift, with a recent survey highlighting 38% of people are looking to change careers in the next 6-12 months.
Then there’s Quiet Quitting, the term coined to describe the trend of people who are intentionally choosing to not put in long hours; have stopped working late, and are no longer going the extra mile in their jobs.
Rising inflation is considered to be a major factor in this growing movement - if wages are not increasing, but the cost of living is skyrocketing - people need to somehow balance their financial and emotional wellbeing.
There’s no denying the global nature of these trends, with all the signs pointing to a historic shift taking place across the world.
What are the reasons behind the shift?
Burnout and well-being has been cited as one of the major reasons why people are reevaluating their options. The global pandemic highlighted that remote work was not only a viable option, it was the future.
A Microsoft survey revealed that 41% of employees are thinking of quitting their job and a further 54% of Gen Z are keen to hand in their notice if flexible work options are not part of the deal.
Why would anyone want to spend hours a day commuting when you can work from the comfort of your own home with more time to take care of your health and well-being and spend time with your loved ones?
Suddenly, remote working opens up a world of possibility with people no longer needing to be tied to overcrowded cities where housing options are limited and more costly.
In fact, this was what inspired my decision to leave my hometown in Sydney and make a lifestyle change to live closer to the beach. When the choice is living in a small, over-priced inner city apartment or living by the beach, it seems like a no brainer to me.
The truth is, we have a plethora of choices available right now in defining our career paths - more than any other time in history.
So, if you’ve been considering reinventing the way you work and creating a lifestyle that works for you on your own terms - there’s never been a better time to do it.
Let’s take a closer look at why now is the best time to change careers, pursue a deeply fulfilling path and design a career you’re obsessed with.
01. Technology makes anything possible.
In 2024, the internet is the vehicle that can make your career dreams a reality. Rapidly advancing technology and software solutions mean you can run a business or grow your side hustle from literally anywhere - all you need is a laptop and wifi.
Things have come a long way on the internet from when I first started blogging back in 2009 - now there’s software that can seamlessly help you run any kind of business you can think of - from ecommerce and online courses, to drop shipping and affiliate marketing.
This means more opportunities and possibilities for you to create a career that works for you on your own terms…. Which leads me to…
02. You create your own rules and opportunities.
Isn't it fascinating to consider that many of the “jobs” that exist today were not even invented 10 years ago? When you think about how far technology has come in such a short period and that things like Facebook and Instagram have only been around for the past 10 years or so, it begs the question of what is truly possible.
The reality is that traditional career paths are not the only options these days - with the internet you can literally invent any kind of career you can dream of, which is pretty amazing, don’t you agree?
One of my friends Christina Butcher runs a hugely popular hair blog, Hair Romance where she works with leading brands, creates hair tutorials, online courses and has published a New York Times best selling book - all thanks to combining her two passions: photography and hair, which she runs all from the comfort of her home! Pretty cool, right? (make sure you check out this interview with Christina to learn more about her story).
Claire Baker, who I did my health coaching training with back in 2013, is another example of someone who started out blogging and has now evolved her blog into a thriving business, which has culminated in a published book, numerous online courses and global training program, Cycle Coach School - how amazing is that?
The real question is: if you gave yourself permission to dream a little bigger and explore the possibilities - what would you create? How could you craft a path that’s unique to you and aligned with your natural gifts?
03. Low / no barrier to entry.
What I love about the internet is there is zero / low barrier to entry to do things that have traditionally been reserved for people with the right connections or background.
Think about fashion and beauty for example - these have traditionally been some of the hardest industries to break into, but now thanks to the internet, anyone can turn their idea and passion into a profitable business.
Eleanor Pendleton launched online magazine Gritty Pretty back in 2014 and has now turned this into a global business having partnered with major brands including Chanel, La Mer and has featured the likes of Miranda Kerr on the cover.
Then there’s fitness mogul Kayla Itsines, who got her start in the online world launching the Bikini Guides - a simple eBook series, and through this gained a cult following. This has now evolved into a global business with her Sweat app, a multi-million dollar empire!
04. The freelancing movement.
Another trend that has been helped along by the pandemic is freelancing, with the global freelance market now consisting of 35% of all workers. Furthermore, a recent survey from Upwork suggests that 20% of current employees—10 million people—are considering doing freelance work.
The great thing about freelancing is that it enables you to create freedom and flexibility around when and where you work, as well as better balance commitments like family, health and relationships. This means you can actually fit your work around your life instead of fitting your life around work!
With global marketplace platforms like Upwork, Freelancer.com, Fiverr - anyone can start promoting themselves and start taking clients on pretty much immediately.
Freelancing is often a great way to test a new business idea or a potential career change as you don’t need any capital or investment to get started - you can literally start with your laptop.
If you don’t end up liking what you’re doing, you can easily shift and change directions (which is something I’ve done myself plenty of times!).
05. Future of work and shift in skills demand.
With rapidly changing technologies, new career options are popping up left, right and center, which has presented a shift in skills that are in demand.
For example, 10 years ago Wordpress was pretty much the only website platform available, unless you wanted to go with something completely custom (and very expensive!). Now there are tons of options including Squarespace, Showit and Shopify, just to name a few.
These platforms have enabled people to offer services and create their own businesses easily and effortlessly - and was how I ended up becoming a Squarespace website designer - something that wasn’t even an option not so long ago!
And what about a career in writing? A common myth people often have about writers is that the only way to make money is to luck out with a book deal, but now you can literally self-publish your own books and sell them on Amazon!
Writers are now hugely in demand and can get paid very well for their skills. With more and more businesses moving online, this has created a big demand for writers to create the content and copy needed for businesses to operate in the space.
06. Safety is an illusion.
The traditional and widely held socially acceptable view is that one must stay in the safety and security of a full time job and preferably hold onto said job for many years.
Times are changing and not only is there no such thing as a ‘safe and secure’ job (hello financial crisis, global pandemic and widespread layoffs), staying in one job and career for most of your adult life is not a suitable option for many people (myself included!).
Personally, I couldn’t think of anything worse than staying in one job for my entire life! As a multi-passionate, my goal is to learn and experience as much as I can and then share what I learn to help others. If I had fallen into the trap of believing I could only stay in one career path, I would have led a very miserable and unfulfilled life.
At the end of the day, you have to make the right decision for you, so make it with the knowledge that no one path is going to be safe and secure and there are no guarantees regardless of the direction you end up taking.
Take the path that is going to bring you joy, purpose and into alignment with your true self.
07. You can start small.
Want to know the best part of charting your own unique course when it comes to pivoting your career into work you love?
That you can start small and test out the waters to work out what fits before taking a big leap.
These days, it’s easy to start a side hustle that you can run alongside your full time job until you’ve grown it to a stage you’re ready to go all in and are 100% sure that this is going to be your next move.
Until then, why not experiment and explore the possibilities of what your soul-aligned career could look like?
So, tell me - what if you gave yourself permission to go ALL IN on your big dreams?
What if 2024 was the year you said YES to you and invested in those ideas you keep putting off?
Hopefully this has given you some inspiration on what is possible for you - now it’s up to you to make the next move.
