We All Can’t Be Oprah, But We Can Transition into a Life Changing Career



Oprah Winfrey

No, we all can’t be Oprah, we all can’t start our "OWN" cable network, or be honored at Kennedy Center, or even run a successful billion dollar conglomerate. But what we can do is honor our purpose, and honor the meaning in which we have been graced to serve on this earth, which is exactly what Oprah is doing. She is successfully carrying out her purpose. 

For a moment, don’t consider your job, but consider what would fulfill you. Consider what would add meaning not only to your life, but what could possibly alter someone else’s life down to the core of their being. What is it that you can do to demonstrate your gifts, talents, and the grace that you have been blessed with and share that with someone who could permanently have the rest of their life changed by your act of kindness? 

When we awaken to the reality that life could be so much more fulfilling through careers which focus on providing services to others, uplifting others and truly impacting someone else’s life, we will discover a new meaning to what the words a "fulfilling career" truly mean.  It’s a sense of freedom, and a new form of gratification that workaholics desire to experience. 

Until we can transition into the Oprah that we want to become or at least seek a new career which reflects our purpose, there is one suggestion that I would like you to keep in mind. When given the opportunity to share your talents and gifts in a service oriented position where you could make a difference in someone’s life and you can be completely fulfilled, would you accept the position even if you had to keep your old job to make ends meet? My suggestion would be you should strongly consider it.

Although managing your time may be challenging initially, when you consider volunteering or working a few extra hours at a position that would pay you little monetarily; please keep in mind, that the fulfillment of your spirit is priceless. Someone once told me long ago; when you do what you love, consider doing it for free. If you keep that mindset, then the riches will follow.

We are embarking on a new year; consider it a new beginning, a new chapter that is unfolding. A new opportunity to envision yourself as a guest host on one of the new shows featured on the OWN network. If given the chance to transition to a new career as one of Oprah’s new guest host in a service oriented career, what would you do? How would you lift someone to the next level? No, we all can’t be Oprah, but yes you can be the person who broke free from the mundane, recognized their purpose, and honored yourself in the process.

How Do You Know? Making a Career Change at 40



Reese Witherspoon



In the movie How Do You Know, Lisa, played by Reese Witherspoon (pictured to the right) questions her romantic feelings for two completely different love interests; a baseball playing playboy (Owen Wilson) who sees in Lisa a reason to potentially slow his roll, and a truly smitten corporate executive (Paul Rudd) who has recently been indicted for fraud.

What Lisa was not questioning was her love for softball. Unfortunately, she was recently cut from her team due to her coaches’ belief that she was getting older and although Lisa (Reese) was still very talented and could still contribute, she was in her late 30’s and her coach wanted to start building a younger squad. Does this trend sound familiar? Are companies seeking to replace seasoned employees with younger, perhaps more cost effective employees? 

In reference to Lisa, this movie highlighted two important aspects that you should consider if you are in the midst of a career transition: 1) a key to identifying  one's career niche, essentially ‘How Do You Know’  your career niche; and 2)most career changes occur when we approach the ages of 40 to 50.

Let’s start with the latter, making a career change at 40 to 50. Although in the movie Lisa focused most of her attention on romance after she was cut, but she also found some time to support her team. Of course this was the movie's plot, but as I mentioned earlier, Lisa although slightly older than what’s considered prime for playing softball, simply needed to channel her passion for the sport to a purpose that could be used to fulfill her and service others.

When considering the possibilities of making a career change at 40 specifically for athletes perhaps coaching may be one of the most common choices; however, other former athletes have found success in color commentating, scouting, training, consulting, entrepreneurial ventures, and as agents. The key for anyone seeking career change help is to devote your time and energy to a career that will provide you with joy, energy, excitement, and most importantly a sense of purpose.


Now to address the first question, what is a key to identifying one's career niche, essentially ‘How Do You Know’ your career niche? If you can recall the details of an early childhood memory, then you are on the right track. Usually any childhood memory that holds pleasurable details can be associated with a future career. For example, fashion designers have recalled constructing clothing from odds and ends for their Barbies, bakers have made dozens of mud pies in their back yards, and even I recall playing teacher with my sister who would have guessed that some years later I would end up teaching college.

The point is your childhood memories can hold some truth to your career. Just as Lisa (Reese) illustrated at the beginning of the movie when she was just a young girl and slammed the ball out of the park, you too can use your childhood memories to unlock the future to your career.  So how can you be able to answer the question how do you know? Because there will be no doubt in your mind that what you are doing is not only fulfilling but also serving a higher purpose.

Identify Your Passion - Seeking Career Change Advice

Do you love your job? Are you looking forwarding to going to work? Or looking forward to clocking out?

If you answered yes to the last question, than perhaps you should consider a career change. Certainly, you should consider being passionate about your career. When you consider being passionate about something, you should be passionate about what you do on a daily basis. To a certain extent this would include your work or career.

You should have the desire to spring out of bed every morning with excitement ready to do whatever you can in the workplace to make it run smoother because you are passionate “supposedly” about your career.

Your passion is your career niche, and it is ultimately the purpose in which you have been called to serve on this earth. In the employment world we like to refer to it as your “dream job” because it provides you with purpose, and the employment experience which fulfills your dreams. Simply put, when you seek out joyful experiences in life, and relate those experiences to gainful employment opportunities, then your passion and joyful pleasures should lead you to your dream job.

Sometimes the process of identifying one's passion can be challenging; therefore, career coaches can provide career change advice to direct you on the right path. Trust me, you are not out there alone and you should not struggle through this process by yourself, because everyone deserves to discover their authentic self and ultimately determine their dream job.

Everyone deserves to enjoy a fulfilling career. Everyone deserves to wake up in the morning and look forward to a job where they can feel fulfilled and not experience dread. Everyone deserves the opportunity to assist others in whatever way that they can and know that they have fulfilled their calling and their purpose by obtaining not just an employment opportunity but a dream job with passion.