Done Dreaming? Here's How to Actually Start

Ever get that feeling that something needs to change — but you don't know where to begin? In this solo episode, I cut through the overwhelm and shares five honest, practical tips for anyone considering a career change or side hustle. Whether you're burned out, curious, or just quietly knowing there's more for you — this one's for you.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why burnout is a signal, not a reason to quit — and what to do instead
• How to follow your passion and intuitive pulls without throwing caution to the wind
• The smart way to test your ideas before you make any big leaps
• How to build a financial and emotional safety net that actually supports your transition
• Why community and mentorship are the most underrated tools in a career pivot

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Mothering Project. Today I am doing a solo episode and it's all around tips on what I would advise anyone to do and exactly what I did when I wanted to make a bit of a change in career or there was something itching that I wanted to explore. Before we move into the podcast, what I'd really love for you to do is subscribe to the podcast if you're really enjoying this, so that then you get it automatically downloaded into your list every week. And also, if you feel this podcast is helping anybody or it can help anybody, I'd love if you could share it with them and leave a rating on my Spotify or Apple Podcast. That would be amazing. And then we can reach out more people.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

We're gonna just move quickly.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

And I am gonna start with tip number one. Don't quit because you're exhausted and you're burnt out. Burnout can often make your feel life feel really wrong and your job feels just off and your relationships feel really just troublesome and your direction feels off. And I think sometimes we think that we need a whole new life. But actually, what we do need first is the capacity to think about what we want. And in a world of fast-paced, crazy, um, you know, always doing, it's very hard to find that capacity. For me, I know that there was periods when I was working in an organization and I thought I needed completely changed, change everything. But actually, what I wanted was some space just to hear myself self and connect back to myself. Um, for me, that was maternity leave. I was fortunate enough to have two 12 months off, and that was kind of like them two 12 months off were like the real pivotal change in what I wanted to do for myself, um, or that time that I kind of had carved out around, you know, what what is it I want to do now. So yeah, I guess there's been loads of areas of like burnout throughout my career. And um, I would always say that just if you can take some time. It could be just like a walk without your earphones in, or it could be like a night away by yourself, or a retreat if that's what you have the capacity and the budget for. But it's actually just to step away from your normal life and figure out um, you know, the top things that you want to kind of achieve for yourself. I never ever recommend that you would make a permanent decision out of temporary depletion because you're doing something that you don't love doing and you're tired and you're burnt out from it. And I always find that after some rest and like, you know, even if it is a weekend away with the girls or it could be a retreat, like I said, or a yoga class or a walk, um, clarity sometimes just comes after you've given yourself a space to think about it. Tip number two follow what keeps pulling at you. And this is a really important thing. As the thing I would say is pay attention that with what keeps pulling your attention. I'm not talking like this perfect business idea and you know what looks impressive online by this influencer or Instagram model or you know, person that's in business that's constantly uh active on LinkedIn. It's actually what something that you keep researching at nighttime, or you light up about it when you start talking about it to your friends, or you know, the thing that you actually probably are very natural at. That's exactly what I suppose how the human project started for me. So it didn't start with a big business plan actually, and it started with a very quiet pull. Um it was conversations I kept wanting to have. It was after I walked out of audits and you know, I saw what people didn't understand around psychosocial safety and psychological safety. And it was just the interest that I had in that leadership space with the people and the psychosocial safety and all about the well-being and the whole person. So I just kept getting drawn back to that over and over again. And I've been in many rooms where I've talked about it to, you know, colleagues and really good friends, and that's what lit me up, and it still does. So it's usually whispers right before it screams. I know, you know, I definitely said to an old boss, I used to say to him, I'd love to go out into different organizations and see what they do with their safety systems, but actually, how do they manage their all-over well being of their employees? And I'm actually back now working in that company. Um, not full time. I'm back on a consulting gig and I'm helping them with the psychosocial uplift. And so it's like a full 360 turn and moment, but I got out and I got into different companies and I saw how they did it. So it was almost like I planted the seed and I, you know, I went after what I wanted. So it's just small little actionable steps. Tip number three would be test it before you leap. I would 100% say that social media has this way of making us all feel like you need to quit your job, launch the business, get new branding, a new logo, five-year strategy, five-year business plan, all the branded pictures for your new website and have it all done before you start anything. But actually, I think I fell into that as well. And I had a beautiful mentor in Julie Parker, who I did the coaching with with Beautiful You Academy. And she was like, just stop chasing the fine, like the fancy, shiny things. You do not need another course. I always remember her saying that what you need is to take the steps. So you actually need to find proof that you know you enjoy that and that it gives you energy and that people need it. So, you know, like I said earlier on in one of the tips around, you know, putting it out there that this is what my idea and this is what I want to do. You need to have proof that it actually is needed out in the marketplace, but you actually enjoy doing it too. I was consulting for a long time, I think, before I called myself a consultant. And I was definitely coaching way before I actually even said anything about being a coach to people. We're often, I think, in comparison to Min, I think we are actually normally operating in our next chapter before we announce it, because we're always kind of testing and we don't want to kind of big note ourselves. Um, so yeah, I would say trial what you are thinking about doing before you do it, and um have a look and feel and see if you actually like doing it first before you, you know, burn down your your full-time employment. It can always be a little bit of a side hustle for a little bit as well, while you figure out, you know, the logistics of how you, you know, manage the financial side of things. Tip number four, which I'm leading into nicely, is build a bridge and make sure you don't jump off that cliff too early. Especially for mothers, because obviously we need nervous system safety and we need financial safety and we need family safety. And um, I think, you know, the whole modern and the internet and everything around um motherhood, it glorifies risk and overnight success stories online. I fall prey to it all the time. You know, make seven figures in your first three weeks if you follow this X, Y, and Z step. But, you know, when you really boil it down and not to be dragged into all of the, you know, online marketing buzz, you just have to make action, actionable steps first. Um, I think motherhood actually just changed my ambition completely. So before I had kids, I would say that I was climbing um the ladder in corporate. I was definitely achieving, I was performing like a monkey for the corporate world. But then after I became a mother, I had ambition, but it just felt more like, okay, I wanted to be more meaningful, I wanted to be more human, and I wanted to be more me. And I 100% want more flexibility, I want to have presence at home. Um, I don't want my career to impact me turning up for my kids in any way. Um, in terms of, you know, there'll be times where I have to miss certain things, but you know, 90% of the time I get to go to, you know, sports events and, you know, assemblies because, you know, this is the path I chose. I want to make impact as well. So like I want to make sure that there is people in organizations that are well equipped with identifying when people are struggling and when workload is just becoming too much and someone's feeling burnt out, or you know, when there's like a lot of change in an organization that it's communicated and communicated correctly. It doesn't need to like be a big, huge move, and it doesn't need to traumatize your whole family either if you're going to make a move. Just slow little pivots. They're still brave steps as well. I would also say, in terms of finances, write down what it is you need baseline and figure out if there's any way that you can, you know, hold on to your full-time job at the moment now. And do a bit of a side hustle on the other side and try and work it like that. So then you've got a bit of security and you're building up your confidence in the side hustle also. Tip number five, and this is the last thing and the last chip I have uh God, career transitions can feel so isolating and so lonely because the people that you're around only know that current version of you. So some of the biggest shift in my life happened through conversations, I suppose, when people could see it before I could, in terms of like they could see what I was capable of and the possibility of what I could do. You know, I got it through really good friends that became like, you know, almost like my mentors. And I got it through like honest conversations, listening to podcasts and listening to how people actually did it, and coaching in terms of like look for somebody that has gotten to where you want to get to and engage them and obviously do your research and get you know references and make sure you do your due diligence on that coach, and they're not just selling you, you know, the dream that they actually do have structure and and stuff behind that. But I think like we as women we wait for certainty for far too long, and the action is what's going to drive you through. So clarity is only going to come once you've completed a couple of steps or a couple of actions of where you want to go. Um, so yeah, I would say clarity and movement will happen through like testing the conversations and being witnessed by people and overthinking, I suppose. Yeah, that's a big one as well. Make sure that you're not overthinking, say it out loud and engage someone to help you, or you know, enroll in a workshop or you know, engage a coach, but have someone alongside you because it can get really, really messy as well because you're looking at social media, you don't know what you're doing, and you're busy. So I would say first up, yeah, engage someone in terms of like a workshop, a coach or a mentor. And that's my top five tips. Hopefully they were of some use to you if you're thinking about moving into a different area or a different career or starting a side hustle. Um, and if you're in that in-between season right now where you know your paper still looks or your sorry, your life still looks fine, but something inside of you is just asking for a little bit more, or there's that idea that keeps coming back. I actually did create a free guide and it's called Back to You Career Reset Guide. And um, you can do it in your own time if you want it. And it's for anyone that's really doing a career pivot, or they're talking about or thinking about doing a side hustle, there's some identity shifts showing up after becoming a mom, or you just want to reconnect with yourself. He will put the link when I release this episode. I'm just trying to think how I was gonna do it because this was a real off-the-cuff um solo episode. I will get you to DM me on my Instagram page if you want that guide, and I can flick it across through to you. Um, but yes, this is it for now. I hope that them five top tips help you and um always happy if you want to reach out and ask me any further questions around what I did or how I did it, because I'm happy to be of service to anyone that's kind of wanting to make that move. Thank you so much. Happy Tuesday by the time this is released, and um, I hope you have a lovely week. Thanks again.