Women should ‘be brave, be bold’ when navigating, transitioning from career crossroads
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RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. — Women need to “be brave” when they decide to make a transition in their career, do it for themselves and focus on self-care while navigating the process, noted a speaker at the Scrubs and Heels Summit.
“Be brave, be bold and make a transition that needs to happen, because your career is yours and yours alone to curate and navigate,” Neena S. Abraham, MD, MSc (EPID), FACG, professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, told attendees. “Control your mindset and your actions. Embrace a positive outlook and know that if you are contemplating a career transition, it is not because you are stuck; it is merely because you are at a crossroads.”
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Abraham noted “regrets of inaction” far outweigh “regrets of action” when making a career change. Women need to focus more on what will happen if they do not take a chance and make the transition, rather than on worrying about what could happen.
According to Abraham, women should avoid assumptions of failure or success and realize that no matter the outcome of their decision to move on in their careers, “a bold move is always progress forward.”
When women seek to make a career change, they need to be open to possibilities, watch for open positions as others retire and, most importantly, they need to network, she said.
“I make it sound like transitions were easy, and I want to be honest, they were not,” she said. “They were fraught with a lot of unhappiness and drama, and tears and doubts. I created these five commandments, that I still follow to this day, because it helps me stay sane in this process.”
Abraham outlined several ways to practice self-care during a career transition, including:
- Take a lunch break.
- Log off in the evenings.
- Improve sleep hygiene to improve your mood.
- Focus on “joy activities” on the weekends.
- Take vacation time.
Abraham noted that women should not lose themselves in their jobs. “You are not the work you do; you are the person that you are.”
She also highlighted the importance of building a balanced life, both personally and professionally.
“That gives you the resilience to weather whatever happens in the next 25 years and will give you the balance you need to make the career transition thoughtfully, and to your better advantage,” Abraham said.
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Abraham N. Your career, your choice: When is it time to move on. Presented at: Scrubs and Heels Summit; Feb. 17-19, 2023; Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
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