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Even Successful Career Changers Get Nervous Before Taking the Leap

Updated 10/17/2023
Even Successful Career Changers Get Nervous Before Taking the Leap
Questioning if you should (or even can) switch career paths? Good—you owe it to yourself to do that exploration, but it's not without anxiety and uncertainty.

Weary of the unrealistic yet oft-repeated phrase, “Jump and a net will appear?” I hear you.

Thankfully, Seth Siegel, author, businessman, and seven-time career changer, offers a different perspective. When journalist Jessica Abo asks him in an interview, “Did changing careers so many times ever give you anxiety?” Siegel immediately replies, “Every time.”

Yet he still switched paths—seven times, in fact—in spite of the inevitable uncertainty attached to it.

While it may not be the most comfortable process, if you’re not interested or enjoying what you do, Siegel says, “You owe it to yourself though, to do that exploration.” So with those words of motivation, go forth and examine yourself, your career, and your motivations.

If all three aren’t in alignment, and you’re questioning your career path now’s the time to take action.


Photo of woman staring at her screen courtest of Caiaimage/Paul Viant/Getty Images.

Photo of Nina Semczuk
Nina understands the struggle of a major career change. After snagging her first job at fourteen, she continued down the path of employment by pursuing a motley assortment of vocations. Ask her about her time in the Army, or her stint as a Harvard research guinea pig. Say hi @ninadawdles or ninasemczuk.com.
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Even Successful Career Changers Get Nervous Before Taking the Leap | The Muse | The Muse