Over the handful of months, I’ve taken it upon myself to dispel unfounded and harmful myths about careers and the job-searching process. These career myths are straight from the clients’ mouths—we all seem to think we know what a career should look like and how to build it, but sometimes we couldn’t be more wrong.

Myth #8: Expect a career epiphany. 

This time I tackle one that plagues movie screens, magazine profiles, and our own visions of how our life should look: We think we should experience a sort of epiphany, a light-bulb moment when we see what we’re doing wrong and where we should go next.

Ah, if only it was that easy.

Epiphanies don’t really happen. I mean, some do, of course. And that’s how those magazine profiles get written—we love a clean-cut, I-was-meant-to-do-this story. But for most of us, the big changes happen over time. Aspects of our daily life slowly start to bother us more and more. If we’re lucky, we finally start to listen and take note of them all poking and prodding our thoughts: 

“I don’t want to design another Facebook banner” 

“I don’t have the energy to sit through one more meeting with these people” 

“These hours are too long” 

“[Insert the last complaint you thought]”

When these thoughts aren’t followed by “Aha! I know what I’ll do,” we begrudgingly accept our fate and trudge onward. I challenge you to break that habit. Listen to your concerns—they’re real! But they’re also just the first steps of many. Unfortunately (or maybe not), figuring out what to do next takes more time and effort. But it’s so so worth it.

The next step: figure it out by doing. Humans are much better doers than thinkers. I go into this concept more in the “Finding It” section of this blog post, “Find Your Passion, and What to Do Instead.” But basically, to get a clearer vision of where to go next, we have to work for it. Schedule some interviews with people who are in an industry that excites you to get a more grounded idea of what their lives are like. Volunteer at an organization to test it out. Take a class to learn more. Try it out as a side gig. 

I’ll also go a little further into this next step in the next career myth blog post: Why asking “What’s the best thing for me to do?” is a bad bad question.

Career “unfoldings” are far more likely than epiphanies. By not ignoring all these pokes and prods but instead listening to the story you’re hearing in your head, you can move mountains.

I’m Stacey Lane: Career Coach | Transition & Career Strategist | Personal Brand Specialist

I help individuals with unique backgrounds find their perfect fit and effectively market themselves so they find work that is as interesting as they are.

Contact me to get started!