Mastering the Second Innings or How to Succeed in a Second Career- Part 2 or When to make The Move

The gift of timing that has won so many matches

‘I wish I were doing something else’ .

I hear this increasingly from people. Hearteningly, many more from the corporate world and other traditional professions are now making the journey to do ‘something else’ than before. Given my personal journey (here is a story that appeared in Economic Times a few years ago), I am often approached for advice by potential Second Innings players.

In Part 1 we dealt with some of the headline positives and challenges for those contemplating a move out of their current careers to one of doing something else on their own. In part 2, I want to share with you some insights on knowing when to make the move. This is based on my research with 18 people who made this switch successfully and insights shared by many others.

Where are you – Way Up or Way Down?

This is a construct I have created. It is developed further from Marshall Goldsmith’s ‘mojo’ model and my earlier refinement of it.

The vertical axis relates to how you are actually doing in your job (or profession). This is concrete and measurable by growth in assignments, contracts, money and so on. The horizontal axis relates to how you are feeling in your job (profession), irrespective of how you are doing. Often the two are related but sometimes they are not.

If you find yourself in any of these situations, it may just be the time to consider making the move:

1. You are one of the stars and have been doing very well. You have grown rapidly in your job and have for some time been managing a large role. However, there is a voice inside you that increasingly speaks up now with the same question ‘is this really what i want to do?’ or ‘i wish i were doing something else’ or some other variation of it. Somewhere  along the line the big cars, the fancy apartments and international holidays are no longer motivating. You are looking for a purpose, some meaning. You are WAY UP in reality but WAY DOWN in Feeling. It is a clear signal of the need to move on. The trouble of not listening to these signals is that often the Reality follows the Feeling and we may land up having to pay the price in terms of health, stress, family tensions and so on.

2. You are not doing too well. You have been passed over for promotion or have been reassigned to a lesser/unsatisfactory role or have hit the glass ceiling. You no longer find your work interesting or motivating and work is a drag. This is a feeling that has been around for some time, may be even before your current lack of success. Caveat – please do not confuse this with a bad day or irritation with a boss. You are WAY DOWN in Reality and in Feeling.

It is a time when getting another job also becomes more difficult as you are caught in the ‘WAY DOWN trap. Things look grim.

This is a time when looking at this situation as an opportunity to reinvent yourself and move on to pursuing that dream can be a great option.

3. All is going well and then…..The organisation takes a decision to move/ restructure/downsize/merge. Or the promoters lose interest. Or the company is caught in a governance issue. Or there is a new process/technology and you are redundant. Or a new boss takes over and you don’t fit in. You have been feeling WAY UP but your Reality is WAY DOWN.

You are likely to find yourself out of a job.

This is a time to introspect and first determine whether the issue is with you or the environment. This might help you decide whether it is better for you to look for another job or do something on your own. In any case, much like the earlier scenario, this is an opportunity for you to consider whether there is something else you want to do. Taking that decision is often very empowering and helps to turn the ‘why me’ feeling into ‘thank God it happened.’

4. Life Changes. Ageing parents, a child whose growth you want to participate in or other such changes in your personal circumstance. These require you to reevaluate your priorities and options. Sometimes it may just mean a change in job. Often, this is a great opportunity to reimagine your present and future. And pursue that dream.

You may find that your personal situation is either a mix of some of the points above or maybe unique. Applying the WAY UP and WAY DOWN framework may be helpful in making up your mind.

Some critical points to keep in mind when looking at timing:

1. Money – Do you have the money to give yourself some time before your economic engine kicks in the second career? This time could be anywhere from 6 months to a year. Sometimes more. This helps you breathe a little easy, particularly if you have dependants and EMIs.

2. Stakeholder Buy-in – Have you got the buy-in of the most critical stakeholders in this process? It helps greatly if your spouse/significant other/potential business partner is on board and has agreed on the timing. Just makes life easier. you can of course soldier on without this support if your belief is strong and you have taken care of #1.

In her book titled the ‘The Top Five Regrets of the Dying’  Bronnie Ware notes that ‘ I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me’ was the most common regret. Wouldn’t it be lovely to live the life you wanted to? Sometimes, the right decision on living your dream in the work that you do, is the most critical one to see that you do not live a life of regrets.