Afraid of making a major career change? Get advice from Dr. Philippa One of the biggest areas of resistance I hear from clients that want to change careers is the fear of "throwing away" tens of thousands of dollars in training and years of experience within a particular field. For all those that are reticent, I invite you to learn from the talented and delightful Dr. Philippa Kennealy. She made a major career change from physician to coach. You can listen to our whole interview here: Philippa came to the U.S. from South Africa about 20 years ago and settled in Southern California. She has a total of about 13 or 14 years of medical training, including medical school and residency in South Africa, as well as residency in the U.S. She also received a Masters in Public Health. Before hearing about her career change from doctor to coach, I asked her what motivated her to choose a career in medicine in the first place. "I am one of those people who really was quite aimless . . . not aimless, I had a lot of aim, I just had no clarity about what I wanted to do when I went into college. My Dad actually signed me up for Medical School in case I wanted to do it. That was how I became a doctor. I was an exchange student in Costa Rica when the applications were due, so he put in the paperwork for me. It sounded like something interesting and a little bit of a challenge and I was always up for a challenge, and so I embarked on it with little or no sense as what was involved. It all started very well, I was extraordinarily happy when I first started my practice. I had redone my residency in the States, then gone off and started a practice in Santa Monica. And I was in practice for about 7 or 8 years when I began to feel twinges of dissatisfaction which really grew to the point where I got significantly burned out. I was deeply disappointed with what was happening to the practice of medicine. I am sure that everyone in the audience knows of the changes that have happened in medicine in the last 20 years, and the move towards HMO medicine, and the pressure for physicians to see patients in a more expedited manner." Philippa ended up being drawn to management, and got a Masters of Public Health. She started as a Medical Director of a hospital, then, when the CEO moved, stepped up and became CEO of the hospital. Although the work was interesting and challenging, she said "it never really caught my passion." In the late 90's, she was recruited by an internet company when the internet was booming. She loved the work, but it ended when the company was unable to get a second round of funding. After this position, she had a seven month period being unemployed. She says "It was the first time I had been unemployed, and the first time I really had time to question my identity. What I discovered was so appalling to me - that my identity was entirely wrapped up in my profession. I felt like if I wasn't a physician or a physician executive that I didn't exist! And that was an absolutely appalling notion." "It was awful. I would have days where I wouldn't receive a single email, nobody would phone me. I truly felt like I I jumped off the face of the earth. It was during that time that I had thought about coaching. I had bumped into coaching in my internet career. I had responsibilities for an online coaching chat room environment. As I read about it, I felt a HUGE passion stirring in me. I thought THAT is what I would love to do one day, thinking that "one day" would be 15 to 20 years hence. I began to do a lot of reading about it, being a very emergent profession. I fell more and more in love with it and decided that this is exactly what I want to do! It has now been a little over three years since I launched my coaching business." I asked her how she felt now that she was doing what she loved. "I could not be happier! There is NOTHING that you could offer me… that would induce me to leave what I am doing now and go do something else. I am so incredibly happy. You know, I bump into people all the time, physician colleagues who look at me and say 'All that investment and all that education, years that you spent learning and now you have dumped it all!' And then 10 or 20 minutes later, they will pull me aside and say 'And can you tell me how you did it? I really want to know!'" Lucky for her she has the answer to that question, as she coaches doctors who want to leave the practice of medicine and start their own business. Following are some questions I asked Philippa about her major career transition. How did you deal with the perception of people in your life who may not have understood your decision? "It is the perception of family and friends, and it is our inner perception. It is tied to how we have come to see ourselves and our attachment to the identity that we have built up including how much money we have brought home. Not many people are born highly risk tolerant. I think most of us are somewhat risk averse. And then we incorporate those strong messages from childhood that say 'It is really prudent to pick the safe path, particularly if you've got a family to support.'" What did you say to yourself and others when they were questioning you about making the change? "I think it has to do with knowing ourselves deeply. There is a part of the journey and that was my seven month period where I spent a great deal of time trying to understand what I deeply, deeply wanted out of life, what I was hungry for, and what my compelling purpose might be. And in fact that was a time when I started working with my own coach who really prodded me to look at this from a much more global picture. And so my response to people who asked that question was that I can only account for myself. But all I know is that having spent time getting to know what it is that I really love to do, and who I really love to be, those are the things that are inspiring enough to make every part of the change worthwhile. And I think that we are much more in control of our destiny than we believe we are. Why do we believe that we are not in control of our destiny? "I think that is just ancient programming. I think it is old bad habits. And it is what I call lazy thinking. And I don't mean that in a pejorative sense, it is just much easier not to have to exert ourselves and look beyond what is in front of our noses. I don't think I could have done it without support. Even my husband was incredibly skeptical about this totally new career direction. . . I think he began to wonder who it is he had married. . . And now he can see the true joy I feel and is truly proud of my accomplishment. And that is a very good feeling!" How did you manage your relationship with your husband during this transition? ". . . It does come to a point of being able to understand what stretch and give there is in your relationship. And what are you in a marriage for? Is this a marriage to just get through the day together and accomplish your daily tasks together, or is it a relationship that is built upon the desire to have each of you experience fulfillment and growth? I wasn't asking my husband to change, I was just asking him to allow me to change!" Dr. Philippa's advice for those that want to make a big career change: Ask yourself: What is the nature of the conversation in your head? "Is it a conversation that deadens you? So for example, so if I was to think about embarking on some new kind of venture and I immediately started to think of all the reasons why I shouldn't, how does that make me feel? Does it make me feel more alive at the end of this conversation, or does it make me feel more deadened? It has become a very important clue to me as to when I am on to something important and when I am just stepping away or avoiding something. Look for aliveness or deadness in your own thinking. Aliveness does not have to be joy and happiness. Aliveness can be thrill, excitement, anxiety, anticipation, fear. It is the whole idea of feeling alive." Make sure that you create a support system for yourself. "This can be a mentoring situation, a buddy who is going through a similar situation, hiring a professional such as a coach or consultant, or becoming a volunteer or an apprentice in a situation you might want to go into and you are willing to commit some time to do that. You are not expected to know everything. My audience is bright and they are respected for their knowledge, and all of a sudden they are faced with a situation where they just don't know all the answers and that is an uncomfortable place. Just be willing to be uncomfortable with your lack of knowledge and find a way to go out and get knowledge and get it in a place where they are respectful of you and supportive and encouraging of you." Engage in good planning. "Don't plan it to the nth degree and don't let planning be the stop-up, but make sure that there is enough planning in place that you can give yourself a start. Research and test ideas, and find resources to help you test them out. Your materials should be able to communicate the 'what's in it for them' (for your clients) It mustn't be so vague and fuzzy that you can't convince anybody to spend any money with you." Dr. Philippa inspired me with her story. I hope she inspired you too! You can find her at www.oyaconsulting.com. Oya is an African goddess of change and transformation. She storms around and cleans out all the old debris and leaves everything fresh and new for a good start. Let's get started! In my blog Escape from Cubicle Nation I write about 5 entries a week on topics related to helping people in corporate jobs break out and start their own business. Here are some recent posts: Do you have to drip slime to sell your services? My Dad was right: cubicles are bad for your health Quick and easy way to set up an LLC How does this help my user kick ass? Presentation Zen does it again: Yoda vs. Darth Vader If you want to be notified of new posts, you can sign up in the box in upper right corner that says "Sign up here - and I'll let you know when I post." Not a Get a Life Subscriber yet? Click here to subscribe. Welcome new subscribers! I am so happy that you have joined the Get a Life subscriber list. You are in good company! Get a Life readers are smart, funny, ambitious, compassionate and interested in the world around them. If you know any like-minded individuals who would benefit from this eZine, please send them an invitation to join via the Get a Life Referral Page. All the best, -Pam Pamela Stewart Ganas Consulting 7744 E. Albany Street Mesa, AZ 85207 480-663-3252 pcs@ganas.com www.ganas.com To View Past Issues of Get a Life click here To unsubscribe to this publication, please go to the following page:  http://ganas.com/unsubscribe ©  Pamela Stewart, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the Get a Life eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution. Please also notify me.