After 15 years in education/educational leadership, I'm ready for a change. I consider my feelings towards my career like being in a toxic relationship. You know that relationship you kept coming back to when you knew wasn't going to last...
On a more serious note, anyone take this leap and care to share the outcome? I'm slighly terrified.
Retired now but truly hope this helps.
Been where you are, (been there, done that)
A partner in a successful business for about the 15 years maybe more. I was burnt out tired of the same thing and also felt limited as to what I could do. I did not want to go through the rest of my life like that.
Oh boy I was concerned about leaving though, it was a successful business and people might have thought I was nuts. So I went a step further to a gosh, dont know if this is the right word "physiologist" career study type person to see if my thinking was straight. I had a young family and could not afford a mis-step in my income. I did this in a way that was fully researched as you can tell.
At the same time I did have a comfortable "cushion" and being in business I know a change to a new one would be costly but calculated I could realistically fund myself for over an year if things didnt go well.
This career person "physiologist" thought my thought process was very realistic and with that I also did a lengthy test that was sent off to some center across the country and my personality matched what I wanted to do.
Which for me was real estate as a 1099 (self employed) I was starting with the right organization, I knew myself and my drive to achieve, I knew things do not happen overnight and the fact that the failure rate is sky-high in the industry, I kept myself looking at the big picture, focused on activities and kept moving forward, slowly and methodically. Doing everything I was being taught.
No excuses, failure was not an option.
Wow! It was the most fantastic ride of my life, literally walking the streets and putting flyers in people doors house to house, over and over, countless phone calls and cold calls I turned into what I would like to believe "textbook" success. I LOVED it, I was killing my competition taking over areas as a listing agent, everyone knew my name and ultimately in less then or around 4 years, I was in the top 25 at my peak around 13 of over 5000 agents in the NY metropolitan area. Truly my competition didnt know what hit them, I loved it so much, loved the recognition, the parties *LOL* and people I have met, even on a corporate and national level.
What I am saying is, you can do whatever you want in life sometimes there is little luck as far as the right people showing you what needs to be done but they key is, you need to go out and do it. "failure was not an option" was a word I repeated over and over.
In my training another phrase stuck in my head. "Whether you think you can or think you cant you will always be right"
I actually got to the point of training people, I loved what I was doing so much that I enjoyed sharing my success with them.
You seem to have a background already Im willing to bet if you really focus, day and night you can find something that greatly is rewarding to you.
Good luck!
BTW- one of my biggest drivers to success was being honest with people and truly working for my clients and consulting with them, leaving decisions to them with the information I had. That caught on like wildfire in NY!