– Why Career Counseling in Nashville TN?

WHY CAREER COUNSELING IN NASHVILLE TN?

It may seem to some that career counseling in Nashville TN would be a luxury. In some respects that is quite true. For anyone to have the time and resources to spend money and brain power exploring their options for their ideal vocation is an investment in the future some of us aren’t able to afford. However, the risk of being in a vocation for some 40-50 years where one doesn’t feel fulfilled or alive could be devastating. In a sense, career counseling is the same as any education. We postpone making money for 4 years of undergrad, or 2-3 more years for a masters degree, in the hopes that our education will provide us greater opportunities than simply jumping out into the job market directly after high school. Many of us don’t consider the opportunity cost of college or a master’s degree, but is exists nonetheless.

Further, it’s quite bizarre to expect an 18 year old or 20 year old to be able to make a lifelong commitment to a specific vocation. Although we may have some sense of who we are and where we want to go, we are far from developing a core identity. Yet, going to college at the age of 18 and typically being forced to choose a major by the age of 20 is doing just that. Many people feel tied to that investment of college, both financially and logistically, and whether we realize it or not, we continue to put more time and resources into that previously chosen major.

So, career counseling in Nashville, TN is quite a risky endeavor. Most people begin career counseling in Nashville, TN with a strong hunch that their current vocation is unfulfilling, but with very little idea of what could be more fulfilling. On top of that, many people don’t want to become awake to the possibility of something more enjoyable out there, because it will then force us to the precipice of decision: Do we stay in our current job with some stability, or do we leap out into the unknown with the hopes of finding something better?

I absolutely love working with people in the area of career counseling in Nashville, TN, but I am also acutely aware of the difficult choices that lie ahead. I want to help people find, as David Whyte puts it, “a firm persuasion,” but I also know the hardship, difficulty, and long road of starting fresh in a new career. If we are already married, or with kids, or just in a long-term relationship, the change becomes even that more difficult, because we have other people depending on us. Do we really believe we are valuable, and our longings are valuable enough to uproot everything for the unrealized hope of something better in the future? When we get up the courage to ask if a new career could be more fulfilling, we are also blasted head-first with the reality that we won’t truly know if that new vocation actually is better until we are working in that field. And we won’t be able to actually work in that field until we have gained a different education, or put in the long hours at the bottom of the rung, or at the very least pulled the cord on our stable income and future. It’s scary as hell no matter what way you slice it.

SO WHY CONSIDER CAREER COUNSELING IN NASHVILLE TN?

So why even consider a new career? Because, unless you are over 50 years old, you probably have more working years ahead of you than behind. Because, when you are in a job you love, you won’t be longing for retirement at the earliest age possible. Because, when you enjoy what you do, your mind can come alive in ways you never dreamed possible. Because, you spend 50-60 hours every week of your life at your job, and if your job bores you or suffocates you, the other parts of your life will suffer. Because, the legacy you want to pass down to your loved ones is one of being alive, taking risks, and living with your full heart. Because, the more you are connected to your vocation, the more you will be connected to your heart, which means the greater possibility for impacting the world for good.

Again, career counseling in Nashville, TN is not for the faint of heart. The above paragraph is full of grandeur and hope and possibilities, but the work that may lie ahead for that new career is full of struggle and endurance and failure. From the time you decide to change careers, to the time you begin to feel solid on your feet in that new career, anywhere from 7 to 10 years may have passed. But, hopefully, along the way, you will find companions and connections and excitement that you never knew was possible in a vocation.

If you are feeling stuck in your career and not sure where to go next, career counseling in Nashville, TN could be a helpful place to at least begin the conversation of something new in your life. Chris Roberts is a licensed professional counselor in Nashville, TN with years of helping people find new opportunities that fit their personalities.