We have all heard the stories of someone who started looking for a new position because of her dissatisfaction with her current job. After some searching, she finds a new position which she is very excited about and which she is sure is going to be the career change that will finally puts her on the path to her dream job or dream life.

 

Fast forward a year or two and this person is again talking about starting to search for a new job because the one she is in just isn’t “working out.”

 

Or how about the entrepreneur who left his job to start his own small business so he would have more control over his schedule and a better work-life balance. And yet he finds himself awake at 1:30 in the morning again, exhausted and scrambling to meet yet another deadline.

 

Now think about your current situation. If you are thinking about changing jobs or have recently done so, you are likely making this change to improve one or several aspects of your life.

 

Keep the following four strategies in mind to get the most out of your career change.

 

Define Success

 

This step is the most important part of any career transition, yet it is also the most overlooked. Define what success looks like for you, both within your new job as well as how the job impacts the other aspects of your life.

 

Before any job change, write down answers to the following questions:

 

• What is the work I am doing? How am I spending the majority of my work hours?
• How many hours a week do I work?
• How much travel do I do?
• Where is my job located? In a city, in the suburbs, can I work from home?
• Do I spend most of my time working with big groups, small teams, one-on-one or alone?
• What does my office look like? How do I feel when I enter this space?
• What do my evenings and weekends look like? What kinds of things will I do for myself and with my family? How often will my job impact evening and weekend time?

 

Identify Your Genius Work

 

What is the one thing that you do best? What type of work do people often recognize you for?

 

What types of tasks do you breeze through with ease that others find difficult?

 

What kind of work would have you exclaiming in a state of joy, “I can’t believe I actually get paid for this!”

 

This kind of work defines your unique brilliance or “Genius Work.” If possible, make sure this work is central to what you’ll actually be doing within your new career.

 

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

 

Once you have done your upfront work and made your career change, your goal now becomes maximizing the time you spend on your Genius Work and minimizing the time spent on everything else. Become a master delegator and get rid of as many unwanted tasks as possible.

 

Tasks that are prime candidates for delegation include things that:

• Can be done faster by someone else.
• Can be done better by someone else. (Hard to admit, but I have many of these! We all do.)
• You can do really well, but they leave you feeling drained, scattered or unfocused on the most important parts of your work.
• Can only be done at specific times that are inconvenient for you and how you want to structure the rest of your life.

 

Eliminate, Eliminate, Eliminate

 

Depending on the type of work you do or your current financial circumstances, it may not be possible for you to immediately begin delegating after a career change. That’s fine!

 

Regardless of your situation, you can eliminate tasks that once may have seemed very important for you, but that now no longer serve you well. Perhaps the single best question to ask yourself when deciding whether to eliminate something from your work or personal life is, “If I wasn’t already doing this, would I start doing this today given my current circumstances?”

 

If the answer isn’t a hearty, “Absolutely!” then it’s time to release this task to allow you to make the most of your new career and achieve the work life balance you are looking for.

 

Use these four strategies to make sure that your next career change is a change for the better!

 

Your Assignment:

 

Whether you are in a new job, thinking about a career change, or just want to improve your current work situation, get out a pad of paper and pencil and:

 

• Define what you want your career to look like and how it should or shouldn’t impact other aspects of your life. Write down answers to the questions listed in the “Define Success” section above.
• Identify your Genius Work. What would you gladly do for free all day long?
• Look at how you spend your time currently. Free up more of your time by making a list of “Delegate” tasks and “Eliminate” tasks. Get these out of your schedule to make more room for your Genius Work and more free time for family and for fun.
• Define what actions you can take starting today to begin making changes and moving in the general direction of your new career.

 

That’s it! Comment below on how you do with this assignment and what insights it uncovers for you