Considering a career pivot? Ask yourself these 3 questions.

If you’re considering a career change right now, you’re not alone. One in four U.S. workers is considering leaving their job, according to one recent survey.

It took me four years to decide to change my career from marketing communications to coaching. I knew I wanted to try something new, so I’d dream up a new potential career, get excited, begin to research it, and then find some reason not to pursue it. This cycle repeated, year after year.

Eventually, I got tired of overthinking and decided to just choose one path to see where it took me. Of all the questions I asked myself over those years of exploration, I found that asking these three questions—in this exact order— got me to a decision point. 

1. What kind of work do I find myself enjoying, even if I’m not paid to do it?

The same exact day I was considering this question, two different contacts emailed me asking for help with their resumes. As a professional writer, it wasn’t unusual for me to be asked for resume and cover letter help, but the timing of these requests helped me realize something important: I loved talking with my friends about their careers, and supporting those who are looking for jobs or want to make a big change. 

This was a huge insight that led me to seriously think about coaching as a career—an option I’ve thought about in the past but had never truly gave myself permission to consider.

2. Is this decision reversible?

Once I had an answer—or at least, a working theory—for question #1, I set out to explore my new potential career path. Asking myself whether becoming a career coach was reversible opened my eyes to a new way of decision making. Often, I think we are scared to make decisions because on some level, we believe that they are irreversible when they’re actually not.

In my case, I decided to approach coaching as a new skill I could learn, rather than an irreversible, all-or-nothing career change. This mindset helped me get even closer to making a decision. 

3. Will I regret it if I don’t try?

Our brains are hard-wired to avoid loss, so it made total sense why I kept finding excuses not to pursue a new career path. My brain wanted me to avoid potentially losing momentum in my career, money, part of my identity, etc. But asking myself whether I’d regret not trying something new helped me consider the cost of not taking action. 

In my case, I knew that if I spent one more year on my current path, I would definitely regret not taking a chance.

I hope that by asking yourself these three questions, you can come to your own career pivot decision faster than I did!