There's a quote I keep coming back to, and it's deceptively simple: "Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy." Simple. Obvious, even. And yet, for so many of us - quietly radical. At some point, most of us stopped asking whether our work makes us happy. Instead we started asking whether it pays enough, whether it's stable enough, whether we'd be foolish to leave it. Whether we should just be grateful. I know this, because I lived it.

How many times are you going to let January slip by before you actually do something about that career change you've been thinking about? I've navigated two major career changes myself. Both terrifying. Both absolutely worth it. The second took nearly a decade—a slow, uncomfortable pivot from 25 years in Product Strategy and Innovation into career coaching. The first happened faster, leaving behind my chosen under graduate focus for a career in Technology.

You've been thinking about it for months. Maybe years. You've googled "career change at [your age]" more times than you'd like to admit. You've saved job posts you'll probably never apply for. You've had the same conversation with your partner on repeat: "I just need to figure out what I actually want." But here's the thing that nobody talks about: Deciding what to do next isn't actually your problem. The real problem? Getting started. Taking that first step.