How to Know When it’s the Right Time to Make a Career Pivot

You want to make a career change. You’ve been thinking about it for a while, you have the vision in your head of “what’s next” and each day when you’re getting ready for work you’re thinking about it…The only question is “When?”

When is the right time for a career pivot?

This question often feels like the most important one to ask after you decide to make a career change. Timing, as they say, is everything. And there are times when changing careers - especially if your career pivot involves moving into a career in which you may earn less income, take a financial risk, lead to big changes in your day-to-day routine, or require spending money to secure additional qualifications - can feel reckless if not impossible. For example:

• I just had a baby

• I just bought a house

• I’m in debt

• I just got a promotion at my current company

• I’m getting a divorce

• I have a sick parent I’m caring for

The reality is this: there will never be a perfect time to make a massive change, because our brains don’t like change. They like to keep repeating the same things we’ve always done, because repetition is predicable, and predictability is safe to our brains. So our brains will always come up with reasons why its a “bad time” to do something new.

But what makes something a good time or a bad time to do anything is just what we choose to think about it all. To some people, having a new baby is the best time to make a career change - you’re in the midst of transition anyways! To other people being in debt is not a reason to hold back from making a career change since that change may be the way to get out of debt the fastest. See my point? You get to choose what makes it a good time or a bad time to make a change, always.

The goal here is to separate the circumstances you have going on, from your thoughts about them. And then you can decide what makes sense for your career change timeline. A circumstance is just a fact - its neutral, it isn’t good or bad until you have a thought about it. So a circumstance may be:

• I had a baby 1 month ago

• I have a job in sales

• I earn $90K per year at my current job

• My partner and I both earn an income

We usually believe that our thoughts are hard facts that are set in stone, but the reality is your thoughts about any of your circumstances are optional - and you can change them at any time. A few examples of thoughts that seem like circumstances are:

• I hate my job

• My boss sucks

• I don’t make enough money

• It’s so hard to find a new job

• Now is just a bad time to change careers

You can keep thinking these - or any thoughts - as much as you want. But if you’re thinking thoughts that aren’t helpful to you in getting you towards where you want to go, you can also notice that, and then work on changing your thinking. For example, “Now is just a bad time to change careers” is a thought you might have, but it’s not one you have to keep thinking. You could choose a better feeling thought such as, “My career change is important to me so I’ll find a way to make it work” and practice that instead….and then notice how much more motivated, energized, or even just calm you feel about your career change once you shift your thinking even slightly.

So when is it the right time to make that career pivot you’ve been dreaming about?

The short answer is: Whenever the hell you want to. Because you can just decide to think that any time is the right time, regardless of your circumstances. The choice is totally yours.

Its never too late or too soon, because “too late” and “too soon” are just thoughts.

You’re not a “job hopper” because the definition of a “job hopper” is just a thought.

You’re not “unrealistic” because (you guessed it), “unrealistic” is just a thought.

There is no recommended timeline for making a career pivot and taking the actions you need to take to make it happen, because each persons specific thinking will be different. And that’s actually the best news, because you don’t have to wait for something outside of you to line up in a certain way before you make a change. Your timeline is totally up to you.