Podcast Episode 335: The Psychology of Leaving Your Career

If you ask most people, they will tell you they’re excited for the day they can leave work and head into retirement. And while that’s a valid feeling, many of those same people aren’t prepared for life after a career that’s been at the core of their daily routine for decades. Whether you’re selling a business, retiring, or moving out of one career for another, let’s talk about the psychology of this life change and how it impacts people.

We spend countless hours working through the financial side of retirement and preparing on that end, but the emotional and psychological side could be even more difficult because of the lifestyle changes. The two main things we see people struggle with are purpose and fear.

Let’s start with purpose because that’s a huge one. Think about how common it is for people in our country to get their purpose in life from their work. When you remove that, it leaves a large void. There’s no longer a place where they socialize with a core group of people and contribute to a company or business and it leads to an internal struggle.

The same is true for business owners in the immediate year following the sale of their business. It’s not uncommon to see those people really struggle with things like depression or they might go through divorce. There’s just a tremendous loss of purpose and people have trouble managing that from a psychological standpoint. By doing some exit planning, it can make that transition much easier and we help owners with that all the time.

Now, when we talk about leaving one career for an entirely new one, this is often a little easier than just retiring because of the excitement for something new. That sense of purpose is still there and you have the routine still in place, even if it’s a little different.  

The overriding takeaway we want you to have is selling a business, retiring, or changing careers is not going to be exactly what you expect. It might not be as easy or as ideal as you thought it was going to be. There’s not always a clear action you can take to prepare yourself for these emotional changes, but being aware of these challenges and addressing as much as you can through proper planning is the best way to set yourself up to succeed.

Here’s some of what we discuss in this episode:

• The two main things people struggle with are purpose and fear.

• Why the first year is the hardest after a business owner sales his company.

• The psychology of changing jobs and moving into a different industry.

• What you need to know before selling your business.