Stress-Free Career Change? What a Bunch of Bull!

I developed the Stress-Free System of Career Change. At least that’s what I call it. Someone once told me “Career change, stress-free? What a bunch of bull!”

Actually, he’s right and not right. For people with a pulse, there will be some stress associated with change–any change. I, for example, get a little bit nervous before doing practically ANYTHING for the first time, including trying out a new yoga studio. Sometimes I even have to push myself to go.

Changing careers is much more consequential than switching yoga studios!

If change and stress are kissing cousins, is it really possible to change your career change in a “stress-free” way? Yes, for at least 3 reasons.nn#1—Stress can be managed. The #1 stress-buster, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, M.D., of Oprah Show fame, is…meditation. He says that meditation can start in a variety of ways, including prayer.

When I heard Dr. Oz say this, I smiled. Meditation happens to be the 1st of three “inner keys” in my Stress-Free Career Change system. I call it “tuning in”, and loosened up the meditation “rules.”

I’ve meditated for more than 25 years. I’ve also taught meditation to a wide variety of people–from family members to female prison inmates, from Manhattan professionals to women in a battered women’s shelter. What an amazing stress-buster it proved—simple and powerful! It’s also easy to adapt to other activities if you can’t imagine yourself sitting still for 5 or 10 minutes a day.nn#2—Stress can be reduced. Having a plan, and working the plan at your own pace, is one of many ways to limit the amount of stress you feel. A simple example: let’s say you have 20 things on your to-do list one day. You feel that you MUST do every single one that day. And do most everything perfectly. Consequently, you are stressed.

If you could learn to reduce your list and throw out the notion of being perfect, I guarantee that you will cut down on stress.nn#3—Stress can be connected away. When we feel isolated, we feel stressed. We have no one to talk to. For women, talking is important. Talking produces the chemical serotonin, which reduces…stress! Connecting with other women who are going through the same thing is essential for decreasing stress.

Stress-free? Maybe not. But stress can be managed, reduced, and talked away. That means, career change can be very near stress-free!