How can you overcome your Quarter-Life Crisis? Interview with life coach Alice Stapleton (Part 2)

Alice Stapleton, life/ career coach,
image courtesy of http://www.alicestapleton.com

So, you’re having a QLC.You don’t like your job, but making a big change seems much too scary. Alice debunked some QLC myths in part 1, here’s part 2 where she tells you what to do next.

 Alice, is there something we can do about this rabbit-in-headlights anxiety, or should we just embrace denial?

Consider what your motivations and interests are. Think about what your priorities are in life.

People used to have one straight career path but generation Y is much more about variety and breadth. There’s the idea of portfolio careers, working part time here and there.

You get scared by thinking: “How do I fit my unique self into this box which I think I should be in?”

Think about where your dream has come from, and if it is still yours. Is this what you want, or is it what your parents want?

What do you care about? What do you want to do? What don’t you want to do? It’s about raising self-awareness of what makes you tick.

What’s the first step out of a QLC?

When people come to me, I tell them to spend time researching different career options.

Lots of people don’t make changes because they think they have to quite a full-time job and leap blind into the unknown but you don’t have to do that.

Give yourself six months to shadow people, go to events for those professions, talk to people in those worlds. Test the water, so you’re not giving everything up in one go.

Start small.

Has anyone ever done anything drastically life-altering after coming to you for QLC help?

Most changes are small but crucial.

There was a client who was in IT software who wanted to travel so  we worked out a practical plan for that. She emailed me a few weeks ago to say she’d handed in her notice and had gone away for 6 months.  She said: “You know what? If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just come back.”

I had a secretary assistant who wanted to teach. We talked about getting her boss to let her work four days a week so she’d have one day to spend in a school and get some experience.

Thank you to Alice for chatting to us– great to get some expert advice.

If you want more QLC wisdom, have a look at Alice’s new project, Mind The Gap . It’s  a community (online and real-world) for people in their 20s and early 30s who would like some support in their post-uni/ adult life confusion.  The coaches are almost all quarter-lifers themselves, so they’ll get what you’re talking about.

Installation by Bruce Nauman, photograph by Kasia Delgado