Be Well: How to Confidently Make a Career Switch

<div class="block">Switching career paths and pursing dreams that you have put on hold can be a daunting task. Cheri Syphax, the author of <i>Second Act: Living Boldly And Abundantly at Every Age</i>, joined Cheddar News to share her experience with entering her life&#39;s &quot;second act&quot; and to provide some advice to those who are on the fence about making the jump. &quot;I had to take stock of me, who I was, what I wanted to accomplish, the life that I wanted to live and really assess what was holding me back. And it actually was fear,&quot; she said.</div>

beWell

Welcome back to be. Well, for many of you, life may seem like it's on repeat. Maybe you're stuck in a rut of a job that no longer is fulfilling to you. Well, you're not alone and wanting to change. That's right. Linkedin found 54% of women transitioned into different jobs in 2021. And that's no easy task. Changing careers means responsibility, new skills and of course, new colleagues. So it's no wonder that a second act in life really seems scary. Well, Sherri cifa knows all of that too well because she's now an author, a restaurateur and a coach. And she told me her inspiring story about why it's never too late to pursue a dream. And guess what the time to start is now. Cheri your book, Second Act is really addressing women taking on the second act of their life or their career in so many aspects. And you are actually in your second act as well. Tell us more. I am in so many ways. Um I moved from Oakland to Philadelphia at the age of 45 where people were saying, are you crazy? How would you build a social circle um actually changed careers, went from more telecom and data analysis into med devices. So again, a big, big change and then ultimately just created a whole new social social circle and ultimately got married. So, yeah, second act in a lot of ways. And my marriage through my marriage, we have, it's called Catapulted Me into a restaurant tour. My husband and I just bought a restaurant in Philadelphia. Um and just so many other things, coaching author, all kinds of stuff. You make it sound so easy. Like, hey, I did this, I did that. A lot of people are very afraid to step out of their comfort zone and try something different, especially after they've turned 40 50 years old. So what's the key to getting past that fear? Yeah, I mean, and that is the thing, right? We'll see says, you know, life is on the other side of fear. I had to take, um, stock of me who I was, what I wanted to accomplish. The life that I wanted to live and really assess what was holding me back. And it actually was fear. My values are around comfort, security, things that feel familiar and there's so many opportunity lost in that. So I said, you know, I'm gonna take this opportunity to move to Philadelphia and just open up to whatever and embrace whatever comes and it's been a beautiful, a beautiful experience. So I just tell everyone get over those fears and make those decisions and be bold about it. Well, you stepped out of your fears and actually met your now husband online during the pandemic at all times. And you know, studies show that black women or African American women are less likely to marry or marry later in life and sometimes they're just at a higher rate of divorce as well. So talk to me about finding love later in life. Yeah. You know, a lot of women have um been inspired by my story and I am just in gratitude that I'm able to inspire others. But the question comes up, how did you meet your husband? How did you attract that love? And I tell everyone, I fell in love with myself. I met myself. That's where you have to be. That most important relationship is the one with yourself. So usually when there's fear, there's doubt there's insecurities, there's things that we are harboring from childhood, traumatic experiences, religious constructs, social constructs, things like that that prevent us from being bold because we're worried about what everybody else is gonna say or what someone's gonna think. We have to just fall in love with ourselves. We have to not worry about what anyone else says. We can't let society tell us that black women don't get married because they do often and are in beautiful relationships. And so we just have to create that narrative for ourselves and then do the things that we need to do to attract the love and the life that we want. And that's what the book is all about. So my journey to that give us some actionable steps to getting over that fear and stepping out of your comfort zone. Yeah. First one is deciding what do you want to do? And then how do I go about doing it? It, what do I need to put in place? Is that, do I need to change careers? Am I ok with doing that? Is that changing? Ge geograph geographies? Um, are those things, you know, learning something new, trying something new? I know I did everything from pole dancing classes despite, you know, a religious background of bringing up it's all the way to, again moving across the country. So really just saying I'm not comfortable with where I'm at today. What are the things that I need to look at that have held me back? Because a lot of times it's us being interested, perspective and being self aware and then taking the action steps to getting towards that and that's right on thing. But one of the things you're trying to demystify that women can't have it all. So can they have it all? Absolutely. How do they get to that point? Absolutely. You just have to believe that you can words become our world, our thoughts become things. And so the more that we believe and do it, then we'll move in those ways that help us get closer there. So, absolutely, you can have it all. I have an amazing husband. I'm a restaurateur. I have an amazing family and live a fabulous life and I'm living here with you and I'm sitting here with you. Isn't that easy though. I think it can be. Um, I think challenge is only as much as you look at it. You know, you can look at something as half full or half easy, half empty. I know that that's a cliche. But really, you really can, you can say there aren't any good men out there or you can say there are amazing men out there. I just haven't found my one yet. So it's all about perspective and how you look at things. Ok. So help us get to your perspective because I know a lot of people are like, wow, that's amazing. She can think like that and navigate her life like that. But so many people have been beat down by life. They've been living in the valley for so long. It's really hard for them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and think positively when life has constantly told them that they can't, they shouldn't, they're not allowed to. So how do we get to that point? You need help. No one, no person gets there alone. I talk about my coaching journey. I found a coach. Once I decided I wanted to do something different, I had to invest in myself, it doesn't cost the cost, it doesn't come free. But it's the best investment that I've made. Have people around you that you're open to listening to their critique of you sometimes it's not easy. But then also looking in that mirror and being honest with yourself. So no, it doesn't happen alone. It takes others maybe professionals. If there's traumatic experiences you've had, you may have to go into therapy um and things like that. But surround yourself with a good team of people that have your best interest at heart so that you can make the changes that you want to make and then do the extra time and investing in it as well. Yeah, but there's also this stigma out there that you have to figure it out by a certain age like, OK, my clock is ticking. I have to know what that second act of my life is gonna look like for retirement by a certain age. What's your thought on that? Why, why are you letting someone else dictate your life? You don't have to have that anything settled and figured out until you want to settle it and figure it out. Um Aging should not be, there's not time stamps on aging, you should be able to do it gracefully and at your own speed and at your own time and with your own perspective. So what someone else does is at 40 someone else can do it at 25 someone else may do at 70. But we have to define that for ourselves. We have to stop allowing societal norms to, um, in a religious contracts and other contracts to decide for us who and what we should be at whatever age. And if we're trying to go after the second act and it doesn't work out, do we just start a third act or we? Absolutely. Until you're six ft under, you always have options? Ok. So real quick before you go other actionable steps that we could take to get to that second act. Yes. Again, that's back to self accountability, self awareness, looking at yourself in the mirror. Um Again, if you've had those traumatic experiences seeking therapy, um, make sure, or a certified coach of some sort in the areas in which you want to do better if that's professionally, a business and a professional executive coach. If that's spiritually, a spiritual advisor, if that's emotionally, someone who can deal with you on that level. And again, if you're dealing with something more, it may be therapy. But those are things that you want to start with. I then had to go with meditation that calmed me. It centered me, it connected me to myself and it helped me start my day and in my day in a state of peace. So peace is where you wanna be