#82 – Struggling with Career Change? How Men Can Regain Purpose, Health & Motivation
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Episode Summary:
Are you questioning your career path and wondering if it's too late to make a change?
In this episode, Ian Hawkins explores the mid-career dilemma many men face, sharing insights on finding purpose, rediscovering strengths, and making meaningful shifts—without drastic changes. Drawing from personal experience and coaching, Ian explains how uncovering your unique strengths can reignite fulfillment in your work and life. Whether you're considering a new career or simply seeking more purpose in your current role, this episode will help you take the next step with confidence.
About the Host:
Ian Hawkins, host of "Sport Is Life," is dedicated to showing how sports can transform lives. With extensive experience as an athlete, a coach, PE teacher, community volunteer, and manager at Fox Sports, Ian brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast. His journey began in his backyard, mentored by his older brother, and has since evolved into coaching elite athletes and business leaders. Ian's commitment to sports and personal development is evident in his roles as a performance coach and active community member. Through "Sport Is Life," Ian shares inspiring stories and valuable lessons to help listeners apply sports principles to all areas of life.
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Transcript
Have you reached that point where you're
Speaker:thinking, is this what I want to do for
Speaker:the rest of my career? Do I really
Speaker:enjoy this? Is there something else out
Speaker:there? Maybe I've left my run too late.
Speaker:Today we're going to unpack what you can
Speaker:do about it, and the change does not have
Speaker:to be as drastic as maybe you'rethinking.
Speaker:I'm Ian Hawkins and this is Sporty's
Speaker:life. The purpose of sport, as I
Speaker:see it, is to see your vision become a
Speaker:reality, find your voice, create
Speaker:strong connections and learn to trust
Speaker:your body.
Speaker:The most common thing I help men with
Speaker:is career change. Generally
Speaker:they get to about midway in their life,
Speaker:around about 40, age, sometimes a bit
Speaker:later, and they're just questioning
Speaker:whether this is the job that they want to
Speaker:do. Are they even in the right industry?
Speaker:Is this what they want to do for the rest
Speaker:of their working career? Usually it's
Speaker:tied in with feeling like
Speaker:there's not enough meaning out of their
Speaker:world. They're not healthy. Probably
Speaker:haven't been looking after their physical
Speaker:health. They want to get fit again and
Speaker:lacking motivation to to be able
Speaker:to change. They they know they want to
Speaker:change. Not really sure how. There's
Speaker:sometimes a reluctance to reach out.
Speaker:Sometimes when they do reach out, they
Speaker:say. I've been thinking about this for a
Speaker:couple of years, but a few times
Speaker:actually. But what they're really
Speaker:missing is purpose, and this is something
Speaker:that was definitely the case for me, I
Speaker:didn't realise at the time.
Speaker:Until I started making
Speaker:changes, started creating a vision for my
Speaker:life. And real
Speaker:ising that I could
Speaker:havea real sense of purpose in the role
Speaker:that I was in, because sometimes the
Speaker:people that are helped don't end up
Speaker:changing careers, it's just that they
Speaker:were lacking purpose in what it is that
Speaker:they do. It's one of the reasons
Speaker:why Pricey got me into do work at the
Speaker:Bulldogs because I had a conversation
Speaker:with the guy at the NRL
Speaker:about what I was looking to bring to the
Speaker:sporting environment. He literally called
Speaker:back that that day, said I've just been
Speaker:out to the Bulldogs and they're looking
Speaker:for exactly what you were talking about.
Speaker:The conversation I had when I spoke to
Speaker:Steven Price is like, this is what I can
Speaker:see will be awesome for for
Speaker:footballers like. You think
Speaker:about those athletes that talk about
Speaker:after they have kids, they actually have
Speaker:much more freedom in their performance
Speaker:because they've got a purpose beyond just
Speaker:their football or beyond whatever their
Speaker:chosen sport is. Suddenly they've got
Speaker:these children to look after that huge
Speaker:part of their life. You don't have
Speaker:to wait till you have children and you
Speaker:can find other purpose that's beyond just
Speaker:your children because that's still an
Speaker:external purpose. It's still for other
Speaker:people. And don't get me wrong, it was a
Speaker:massive part of my change as well, really
Speaker:realising I needed to be better for my
Speaker:kids. But that sort of motivational only
Speaker:goes so far. It's finding something
Speaker:that's bigger than you, bigger than
Speaker:family, something that actually.
Speaker:Connects to you that.
Speaker:It just feels right for you, not for
Speaker:anyone else, but for you. And a
Speaker:lot of men, a lot of dads, they feel like
Speaker:they're doing everything for everyone
Speaker:else. They're going above and beyond and
Speaker:still don't necessarily get the
Speaker:recognition and still definitely don't
Speaker:feel like they're getting the fulfilment
Speaker:from from that part of life.
Speaker:So like I said, some of the men that I
Speaker:coach through this process, they they
Speaker:don't end up leaving their job. What they
Speaker:find is more about themselves, about
Speaker:what they're really good at, about what
Speaker:they bring to the table. And
Speaker:unfortunately for a lot of people, the
Speaker:thing that comes most naturally to them,
Speaker:the thing that is one of the greatest
Speaker:strengths, it's come with
Speaker:challenges. And because there's a
Speaker:few ingredients missing, it feels like
Speaker:it's a curse. It feels like it's a
Speaker:weakness. It feels like it's one of those
Speaker:frustrating parts of our.
Speaker:Pardon me, but one of the things that
Speaker:I've learned is that actually usually
Speaker:that area where we get challenged and we
Speaker:and we, you know, we sometimes have to
Speaker:continue to overcome things is often.
Speaker:Where our gift lies. We've
Speaker:continued to overcome these challenges
Speaker:again and again and again. We've built up
Speaker:such an arsenal of resilience
Speaker:and learning and knowledge about how to
Speaker:overcome these things, and yet we still
Speaker:seem challenged by it. It's definitely
Speaker:the case for me. There are still things
Speaker:that challenge me around. A lot of things
Speaker:I talk about, about performance and
Speaker:belief and leadership.
Speaker:And that's why I continue to try and
Speaker:improve and that's why I continue to able
Speaker:to help people because it's not something
Speaker:I'll ever get to stop or continue to find
Speaker:better ways. So part of the
Speaker:answer. For wherever you're
Speaker:at in career and whether you're looking
Speaker:at that change and whether you're
Speaker:thinking maybe maybe I've left my run too
Speaker:late. Maybe I actually can't change.
Speaker:Maybe it's better for me just to continue
Speaker:to do what I'm doing, take the paycheck,
Speaker:which I know is good, and then and then,
Speaker:you know, worry about retirement. Well,
Speaker:as I learned when my dad passed away at
Speaker:66 is that nothing's guaranteed.
Speaker:And thankfully for him, he retired
Speaker:early, but he didn't get. Anywhere near
Speaker:the years he would have imagined he would
Speaker:have got in retirement.
Speaker:It's not always about like thinking,
Speaker:well, I'll just keep going. I actually
Speaker:had a couple of conversations on the
Speaker:weekend and and one of the guys I was
Speaker:speaking to was saying. You know,
Speaker:besides how good that you found what you
Speaker:love, he said. Oh, I still don't know.
Speaker:The good thing is he's aware of it and
Speaker:he's acknowledging it. That was a real
Speaker:part of the process for change for me. I
Speaker:started saying to people when I was in my
Speaker:late 30s. People talk about not
Speaker:knowing what they want to do when they
Speaker:grow up. I'm still like that. I don't
Speaker:know what I'll let you know once I know
Speaker:what I want to do when I grow up. So
Speaker:that's self awareness and that desire to
Speaker:change is the first part. And it
Speaker:really is starting to get a
Speaker:better understanding, better self
Speaker:awareness around who you
Speaker:are, what you bring to the table
Speaker:and what are those unique strengths that
Speaker:that only you have. If you
Speaker:asked your work colleagues
Speaker:or your closest friends and
Speaker:what they thought your greatest strength
Speaker:was, you might just be surprised to hear
Speaker:what they have to say. And
Speaker:generally that can be quite confronting
Speaker:to go and ask that. And if you have the
Speaker:courage to do that, I guarantee you will
Speaker:get some really cool answers. But you
Speaker:don't have to do that. The best way to do
Speaker:it is actually unpacking yourself is to
Speaker:be able to externalise what you got going
Speaker:on, get some structure around that and
Speaker:then realise, OK, my strengths lie here.
Speaker:What if I bought more of that to the
Speaker:table? What about if I bought more of
Speaker:that sense of purpose to the job I'm
Speaker:doing now?Would I actually enjoy what I'm
Speaker:doing so much more?And that was
Speaker:definitely the case for me.
Speaker:The you heard me the other week talking
Speaker:about my back story and how I can still
Speaker:remember that walking through that same
Speaker:grey office and just
Speaker:done so many times and just feeling like
Speaker:I'm on repeat. Once I started
Speaker:learning more about my unique strengths
Speaker:and how I could bring more of that,
Speaker:started developing some of those skills
Speaker:and and real ising that I had somuch more
Speaker:potential than I realised, even though
Speaker:that late age, then I did find
Speaker:purpose at work. I found so much purpose
Speaker:to the point where it led me into doing
Speaker:more coaching.
Speaker:Well, my staff telling people from other
Speaker:departments, their friends from other
Speaker:departments, they come and have a chat to
Speaker:with me because I was doing my purpose
Speaker:work. I was helping people with their
Speaker:career. I was helping people to to
Speaker:believe themselves, to get better, to
Speaker:find more work that they like to, to get
Speaker:the best out of themselves even when they
Speaker:didn't love their job, to help them
Speaker:realise if they wanted to go and find a
Speaker:job somewhere else, whether it's another
Speaker:department or another business
Speaker:altogether, I'd help them. But it would
Speaker:be through building those habits in the
Speaker:role they were in, finding more purpose
Speaker:in the role that they were in, so they
Speaker:could take that momentum. Into the next
Speaker:level. I remember Jeff Toovey when
Speaker:he was coaching and coaching at Manly and
Speaker:and they limped into the finals,
Speaker:they just scraped through, finished
Speaker:about 6 or 7th and weren't playing well.
Speaker:And when they got knocked out,
Speaker:that's exactly what he said. He goes,
Speaker:look, we were still hopeful and we wanted
Speaker:to win, but it just goes to show you, you
Speaker:can't suddenly flick a switch like you
Speaker:need to build momentum, you need to have
Speaker:things. Place you need to have those
Speaker:habits happening regularly and that just
Speaker:wasn't happening for us. And it's the
Speaker:same if you want to transition in your
Speaker:career, find
Speaker:the level that you're after, Find the
Speaker:purpose that you're after in the role
Speaker:that you are in, because then
Speaker:transitioning to something new, if that's
Speaker:in ends up being the way that you go,
Speaker:it's going to be so much easier. And
Speaker:it's worth it because when you start
Speaker:finding more purpose in your day to
Speaker:day, in your work,
Speaker:suddenly you're less tired. Suddenly
Speaker:getting the motivation to exercise is so
Speaker:much easier. Finding the
Speaker:desire to improve different elements of
Speaker:your health and fitness so that better
Speaker:habits the what you're
Speaker:fueling yourself with the people you're
Speaker:hanging around. That it becomes so much
Speaker:easier because that's just what the sense
Speaker:of purpose does for you. It
Speaker:energises you. And sometimes when
Speaker:you're feeling tired and lacking
Speaker:motivation, it's it's not because you
Speaker:need to rest, it's because you've just
Speaker:been doing a whole lot of stuff that
Speaker:doesn't suit your natural way. That
Speaker:was me. I was sitting in front of a
Speaker:computer doing detailed focus work. When
Speaker:I'm an extrovert that needs to be in
Speaker:conversation. But because I
Speaker:didn't have the right confidence, I
Speaker:didn't have the right structure, I didn't
Speaker:understand that about myself. It felt
Speaker:like a challenge. But once I
Speaker:had the structure to unlock, that changed
Speaker:everything. And one of the things I use
Speaker:as a tool to run your personal flow, it
Speaker:helps you to see are you more people? Are
Speaker:you more detailed? Are you more big
Speaker:picture? Are you more grounded? And then
Speaker:the combination of that, you get a 360°
Speaker:view. There's a heap of different
Speaker:personality profiling tools. This one is
Speaker:fantastic because it's about flow. You
Speaker:think from a sport perspective, it's
Speaker:about finding your zone. It's
Speaker:about finding when you are in
Speaker:that moment where you can get lost in
Speaker:what you're doing. It's almost having
Speaker:slow motion. You think it moves ahead and
Speaker:you're planning the absolute best, but
Speaker:not just in a sport context, but how you
Speaker:can do that in your day to day
Speaker:and your work environment and your family
Speaker:situations, your friends, bringing
Speaker:more of what it is natural to you. And
Speaker:you can get lost in those flow moments on
Speaker:an everyday basis. And that's an
Speaker:absolutely game changer. So
Speaker:if you're looking for that career change,
Speaker:first thing is self awareness.
Speaker:Maybe where am I having some of those
Speaker:challenges?Where am I lacking
Speaker:motivation? Is there actually a gift
Speaker:hidden in those moments or am
Speaker:I heading in the wrong direction
Speaker:altogether? Like I said, I was doing
Speaker:detail focused work, but I was a people
Speaker:person. Self
Speaker:awareness is the first point. Then get
Speaker:some clarity by writing down some of the
Speaker:things that you know to be true.
Speaker:And like I've talked about before, when
Speaker:you're doing this journaling process, if
Speaker:you're unsure, ask a question. How do I
Speaker:find more purpose? What is it I need to
Speaker:do?If you're an extrovert
Speaker:like me, then the question is always who
Speaker:do I need to speak to? If you're a
Speaker:introvert, more detailed focus. It's how
Speaker:do I find the answer to this? If it's a
Speaker:big picture, you're asking what if you're
Speaker:more of that grounded sensory person?
Speaker:That's when and where? When do I need to
Speaker:have this done by and where do I need to
Speaker:be to make it happen?So
Speaker:that's a snapshot. Of course, if you're
Speaker:looking for more than I can point you in
Speaker:the right direction of that profiling
Speaker:tool because it's an absolute game
Speaker:changer. I, when I first did that,
Speaker:that profile tool test and got my
Speaker:profile was 2013. Laterthat year, I
Speaker:learned how to be a facilitator to help
Speaker:other people to not just do the test, but
Speaker:then to have the strategy
Speaker:around it to make sure it works. And it's
Speaker:still something that I give all my
Speaker:clients to make sure they have access to
Speaker:that as well. Because that's how profound
Speaker:it is. More longer term, but also
Speaker:in the process of putting together my
Speaker:own. More specific to the work that I
Speaker:do, profiling tool around the same sort
Speaker:of stuff too, so that's something to keep
Speaker:an eye out for in the future as well. So
Speaker:you can find that purpose. You will be
Speaker:able to change your life
Speaker:and set yourself in a whole new path
Speaker:where you'll be thinking and realising
Speaker:that you are capable of so much more than
Speaker:what you've achieved so far.
Speaker:You've taken the time to listen to this
Speaker:whole episode. Now it's time to take
Speaker:action. Commit to one thing you've
Speaker:learned today and make it happen. And to
Speaker:avoid any obstructions, join the Sporty's
Speaker:Life movement by clicking on the link in
Speaker:the show notes.
