For many of us, the seasonal break provides not only a much-needed opportunity for rest and a break from our everyday routines, but also an opportunity for reflection, as we look to reset our lives in preparation for the year ahead.

As 2023 draws to a close, providing time for reflection and the chance to think about how we might want the year ahead to be different, these are the 9 key things I’ve learned about myself and the process of mid-life career change in the 9 months since leaving the corporate world and starting to build my new portfolio career...

Are you tired of feeling that work is taking over your life – leaving you little time and energy to focus on anything else?

Maintaining a good work-life balance, particularly in the era of flexible working that has now become the norm for many traditionally office-based roles, can be challenging. For many, the boundaries between life and work have become increasingly blurred – both from a physical and a time perspective.

In this article, I’ve pulled together some of the key areas to focus on if you’re struggling to achieve a good work-life balance.

In 2021, I suffered a work-related burnout – something I’ve been reluctant to talk about until now – which is perhaps not surprising, given the stigma that continues to exist around mental health conditions and those experiencing poor mental health.

No-one wants to admit that they’re struggling to cope at work…

Once you’ve put together an initial list of ideas for your new career (remember, you can always come back and add to this later), it’s time to get started on the initial assessment of these – increasing your level of understanding of what each potential career idea involves, so you can decide whether to discard it (on the basis that, having found out a bit more about what it actually involves, it now has limited appeal for you) or investigate further.

So, you’ve taken time to explore and reflect on who you are at this stage in your working life, what’s behind the desire for change and what it is you want from your work going forwards, and you feel ready to commit to making a change – now it’s time to get creative and start to compile an initial list of ideas and avenues for further exploration.

So, you know you’d really like to change careers and do something different for the next stage of your working life – but you’ve no real idea what (or maybe you’ve a few vague thoughts about things you might like to do, but none of these seem very realistic), and you’re struggling to know where to begin.