How to Rebalance Your Relationship After a Career Change
Career changes are more common these days than ever before. On average, people change careers at least five times in their life. This adds up to about one-third of the workforce switching careers per year. To take another angle, if you’re in a relationship, the odds are very high that either you or your partner will try a new career in the near future. In some ways, this is exciting. In other ways, it can be a challenge.
Making such a big transition will have a far-reaching impact. How prepared are you to make it happen? How resilient is your relationship? What can you do to find balance before, during, and after the shift?
Preparation
Just because career changes are relatively common doesn’t mean they don’t require preparation. Before moving forward on a move that will affect your home life, you’ll want to have a series of honest conversations with your partner. Be ready to talk about your motivation, timeline, and overall impact. Some topics to touch on:
Explain in detail what you’re seeking with this overhaul and what’s causing you to question where you currently are.
The research you’ve done on such a transition and how to make it run as smoothly as possible.
How will the family’s finances be impacted, and what can be done to ease any bumps in the road?
What’s the ideal time to make a move, and how soon are particular milestones expected to be met?
How to Support Your Partner As They Make a Career Shift
It can be a bit of a high-wire balancing act. Your partner deserves to be encouraged and not questioned all the way through the process, but you deserve to be kept fully appraised and involved. The most fundamental approach is to start with emotional support. Like any situation in your relationship, it’s wise to choose collaboration, communication, and patience.
Set aside time for meetings. Keep developments out in the open and create an environment in which asking questions is the norm. Avoid offering unsolicited advice, but reserve the right to speak up if promises and deadlines are not being met.
Throughout the entire process, be sure to remain a team and a romantic partnership. Be there to support each other. But also, don’t make everything be about the career change. Do what lovers do — have fun, explore, and create new experiences — even when some parts of your life are still developing.
How to Rebalance Your Relationship After a Career Change
Regardless of how the shift went, stay committed to evolving, improving, and growing together. Career changes can involve periods of financial sacrifice or taking on new responsibilities. Stay in touch with each other, and be sure to voice any concerns respectfully. A few suggestions:
Avoid assigning blame: This is a team effort and any glitches must be handled gracefully as a team.
Stay flexible: Even the best-laid plans can require some recalculations and modifications.
Practice gratitude: Nothing this big is possible without both partners pulling their weight and staying committed. Be sure to unambiguously express your appreciation for one another as often as possible.
Get Some Coaching
There is no official how-to manual for how to navigate career changes and their effects on relationships. No one should be expected to organically have all the answers. Hence, connecting with a qualified couples counselor can be a monumental step. With help from an unbiased guide, both partners are positioned to feel validated and appreciated.
In the privacy of a therapy room, you may feel more comfortable discussing issues and problems in the name of finding new approaches. Let’s connect soon and talk about the possibilities.
