If you are a first-time mum, you are probably going through a range of emotions as you look ahead and see your maternity leave clock ticking away. On the one hand you are overjoyed with your new family life, with the prospect of spending a lot of time with your newborn and harnessing all your maternal instincts to do what mums do best. However, you’re also feeling daunted by the incredible challenge of raising your baby and you can’t imagine how you’re going to deal with a regular working schedule too.
Before you had any idea that you were pregnant or were aware that your life was about to take an entirely new direction, your planned out career path seemed perfectly clear. That wasn’t the only thing that was clear either, as you were well aware of the long hours that you were putting in and the way that your career was already biting into your valuable personal time.
For all mothers, childbirth is a major life-changing experience. It ranks so highly on the list of life-changing events that it usually leads to all sorts of changes in other areas of your life too. A career change by itself is not to be taken lightly, but sometimes events can form a catalyst for change and as you have effectively paused for thought during your maternity leave this might well be the time to steer your career ship in a different direction.
If you’ve been thinking about other options, why not use this valuable time away from your job to carefully consider all the positives and negatives? This might be a great time to investigate online life coaching sites, which are very good at helping you to focus your priorities and work out what is best for you. There’s no reason to worry about seeking out professional coaching, as with any kind of career change, it’s a major decision which could greatly impact several areas of your own life, as well as the lives of your other immediate family members and you new baby too.
Often a career change can be just the spark that you want and can be driven by the natural enthusiasm that you now feel following your childbirth. Some women feel that they can take on the world after giving birth and this natural euphoria could really help you to make a go of your alternative career path.
If you find that, deep down, you are dreading the thought of returning to your old job and that you feel your career may have stagnated somewhat before you took your time off, then you really should reconsider everything. Sometimes it is better to get the view of a “third party,” or someone who is not a direct family member or even a close friend, as an impartial opinion could be very important at this stage. Specialised services offer coaching for women in your position and may well be able to offer you options which you had not even considered as yet.
When you talk to a professional coach you will be prompted to go through the positive and negative, and you may be able to unveil some underlying reasons why you are thinking so much about a career change. It might not just be something as obvious as the commute time, it may also be to do with the flexibility that a career working from home, for example, could provide.
Always consider your relationship with your current employer when considering a career change during maternity leave. Make sure that you read the terms of your current agreement and always keep them in the loop as early as possible, and especially as soon as you have made your decision.
Amanda Alexander is the Managing Director of Coaching Mums. She is a celebrated ICF accredited coach, who for over six years, has been helping thousands of working moms from around the World bring balance back into their lives, lose their guilt, find the time to explore their passions, and generally, to have a lot more fun! For fantastic articles and hot professional coaching tips, sign up to receive “Inspire”, our famous free newsletter today!
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