How To Elevate Your Family Life With New Career Skills

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Making a better life for you and your family can mean different things. You may want to cut back on the number of hours you work or quit that second job. Your spouse may want to stay home with small children or go back to school. No matter your ultimate goal, the steps below can help you on the path to an elevated family life.

1. Bring Your Children Into The Loop

If you have a career goal that includes a year of coursework, bring your children into the process. For example, your classes may be online. You may need to do your homework after dinner. Now is the time to bring your children into the process by

  • assigning cleanup chores or tasks
  • using a timer to keep everyone focused
  • blocking out homework time for everyone in the house

Age-appropriate chores are good for your children, especially as they come to understand what you are doing and why. You may find that your efforts both increase your child’s understanding of your goals and their desire for a career in the future.

2. Do Things That Scare You

Part of putting your strengths to work is understanding what you’re not good at. We all have skills that come a bit easier than others. For example, you may want to go to a Toastmasters meeting and learn to speak in public.

As you improve by scaring yourself a bit each day, you will find that your confidence level goes up. For example, you may have sweaty palms about speaking in front of strangers, but that friend who really has all their finances together will be easier to talk to. If you’re in the market for a mentor or a coach, the ability to ask is key to finding the right person.

3. Make a List of Your Strengths

Connect with friends and family you trust and ask them for an honest assessment of your strengths. You may find that you already have many of the skills an electrician needs, such as problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently.

Dig down into this conversation. If your mom says that you’re always tidy, figure out how that can help you improve your career. Does that mean that you’re pretty organized? Does that mean that you declutter regularly? Does that mean that you always put things away at the end of a project?

4. Keep A Journal Of Your Improvements

If you’re always pushing yourself to learn new things and to try something scary, you may start to worry that you’re not much of an expert on anything. However, this is the furthest thing from the truth. Keep a journal and note, each day, what you learned that you didn’t know yesterday.

Maybe you picked up a new perspective as a public speaker. Maybe you learned how to time the telling of a joke. Perhaps you learned of a new website to help you improve your writing skills or found a new organizational practice that will shave time off your tidying efforts. Note them, and on the days when you feel that you’re just spinning your wheels, review the journal to see just how far you’ve come.

5. Look For A Mentor

Take a look around you and note which person in your circle is really working on their life in a way that you respect. For example, you may have a family member who’s turning a side hustle into a business. You may have a friend who’s working and going to school.

Reach out to these folks. Yes, they are busy. That’s part of what you admire! Take them to coffee or, if funds are tight, bake some muffins and take them a treat. Give them time to prepare for your meeting by asking them

  • why they’re working so hard
  • what habits or practices help them manage
  • what ideas they can share

As you start on your journey to building a better career, you will also build skills and hacks that make life easier. Connect again and present these ideas; your mentor may help you tweak them, or they may just add them to their own skillset!

A better life is possible with a career change or improvement. No matter your current educational level, you have inherent skills and earned knowledge that can make life better for you and your family.