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It’s amazing how many of our FPC owners tell us, “I wish I had done this years ago.” Dig a bit deeper and they’ll describe having long thought about owning their own businesses, but being afraid to make the break from corporate life and the relative predictability it provided.  Also, they will talk about the fact that they were not sure that they were the “business owner type.”

These days, we can all admit that working for someone else is far less predictable. If you go about it the right way, you’ll discover that launching your own venture can be a question of mindset over matter. With some simple steps you can overcome trepidations and build an enjoyable second career.

Re-invent yourself without reinventing the wheel.

A recent article in US News, “3 Steps to Reinventing your Career,” quoted Karissa Thacker, a workplace psychologist based in Rehoboth Beach, Del., who consults with Fortune 500 companies about career change. “Reinvention should be done as a natural evolution of your current skill set,” she said. “Going from a rock star to an accountant is fiction. Teaching history from being an accountant is reinvention.”

Yes, it’s crucial to be realistic. We would go a step further and suggest that you plan a second career around what you liked best and were best at in your previous one. Consider those elements of your expertise that give you the greatest sense of self-confidence and find a way to re-cycle them. This will help to balance out the uncertainties of trying something new.

Understand what’s not working.

On the other hand, do a deep dive into the aspects of your current career that you want to replace. Here’s where it’s important to be very honest with yourself.

Make a list and then put the items in priority order. Knowing what you want to avoid in a new career as well as what you’d like to replicate will make it easier to identify options with the potential for success.

Dream a little.

While we’ve already said that it’s important to be realistic in identifying a new career direction, it’s okay to dream a little. Is there something you’ve considered that you’d like to do, but circumstances or other reasons kept you from pursuing?

If so, and you can bring those confidence-building elements to it while leaving out the negative ones, why not put it on the table as a second-career option? In addition to having an interest in running their own businesses, most of our owners dreamed of spending more time with their families or building an asset to pass to the next generation.

They were able to put their experience to work recruiting in their former industries, leave behind corporate travel, risk of layoffs and other aspects of their corporate jobs that kept them up at night. Most important, they realized some of their dreams.

Get excited about trying something new.

As children, we looked forward to new experiences with wild anticipation. Oh, boy! A two-wheeler! Let me try it!! We didn’t think that we might fall and skin a knee. As adults with responsibilities, we can let fear overcome excitement.

But if we bolster our self-confidence and explore options that include our dreams and eliminate the things that keep us from enjoying our work, it’s surprisingly easy to start feeling excited about the future. Positive emotions are a great launching-pad for moving forward effectively. They’re infectious, too, and will help you attract the help you’ll need to reach your new goals.

Anticipate challenge as part of change.

Of course, there’s no shortcut to building a successful second career. It takes hard work and it’s never a straight path. There’ll be some unexpected curves and natural ups and downs. But if your chosen next step has positive elements purposely built in, it will be an enjoyable second career for sure.

While you’re on our blog, please take a look around the website to find out if the second career we offer might be a good match for you. You can take a peek into a typical day for one of our executive recruiting franchise owners by clicking on the button below.

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