Page 138 - Marky Stein - Fearless Career Change_ The Fast Track to Success in a New Field (2004)

Fearless Career Change

In spite of the seemingly impossible task of predicting an exact
date, the majority of people I have worked with who use this
method actually end up attaining their goals within a week or two
of the stated calendar date.
Again, your subconscious mind has a better chance of keeping
you on track if you provide it with a specific guideline as to when the
goal will be realized.

Step 2. Design Your Goal So That It’s Both
Believable and Attainable
It’s one thing to think big and imagine great things for yourself. It’s
another to plan for something that is so outrageously unattainable
that even you have a hard time believing it could really happen.
For example, it may not be at all unreasonable to write a goal
saying “I now make $7,000 a month as a presales hardware engi-
neer on September 9, 2006,” but it is rather doubtful that you
could make, let’s say, a million dollars a month in that position.
Though I encourage you to dream, it’s best when goal setting
to commit to goals that are humanly attainable. Then when you
reach your goal of making $7,000 a month, you can always set
another goal for an incremental increase of your income.

Step 3. You Must Have a Workable Plan to Reach
Your Goal
Your new career will probably not come about by sheer magic. It’s
important to consider the concrete steps you need to take to make
your dream happen. Those steps may include raising or saving a
certain amount of money and/or applying one or more of the fear-
less career change strategies discussed in detail in Chapters 8 and
9, such as working in an internship position or enrolling in a short-
term education program, or taking the steps needed to implement
your job search or to start your new business.
It is also important to note any obstacles (inside or outside of you)
that might prevent you from reaching your goal. For almost every-
one navigating a major career transition, fear is likely to rear its
head. You’re no different from most people if you feel some trepi-
dation on the road to your dreams.
This takes us back to the very beginning of this book when you
wrote down the fears that you associate with change. It may be that

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