Published: Friday, 22nd January, 2010 10:10am

Use your career break to make a change

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Maternity leave turned out to be a life-changing experience in more ways than one when Lizzie Bentley-Bowers took a break from her job in senior management at a large London school to retrain as a successful coach and facilitator. Here's how she made the change.

1. See your break as a gift. This is what a coach friend told me and it's the most valuable piece of advice I've been given. It made me properly question what I really wanted. And she was right - I have loved learning again and my life looks very different now but in a way that is fulfilling and exciting, and that I feel in control of.

2. Talk to everyone! I had a loose sense that I'd like to get involved in training and development but was unclear of anything specific or how to go about it. So I spent a lot of time just talking to people and asking questions. That's how I came upon the idea of coaching. I spoke to my friend about courses, how much they cost, how long they took etc. I researched different companies and found one that suited me.

3. Assume you can do anything you want. Changing careers can be hugely scary but if you use this as your starting point, you can achieve anything. I wouldn't have described myself as resilient or confident before changing careers but with the right encouragement and support I've realised you can do pretty much anything.

4. Don't listen to your limiting beliefs. What you know about yourself can limit you to the point where you start to tell yourself lots of fantasies about what you can and can't do and how other people might respond.

5. Keep an eye on the time - it passes quickly. Try to keep a healthy combination of dreams and aspirations alongside reality and getting the bills paid!

6. Doubt is normal. Throughout the process of change I often felt like I'd done the wrong thing. It was all very well going on training courses but at the back of my mind was the worry that I'd never make a successful business out of my dream. There's a huge difference between having a lovely time and learning lots of lovely things and actually putting some money in your pocket.

7. Expect a confidence rollercoaster. The journey to starting a new career brings such huge changes that you're going to feel lost at times. All of your life you've had stories attached to who you are and what you do. Suddenly this will change and you ask yourself 'Who am I?' or someone asks 'What do you do?', and you realise that you don't know the answer. It's scary but amazingly liberating.

8. You'll still be the same but different. You learn so much about yourself when you go through something like this, that it will change you. I learnt that I can manage on my own and that I'm stronger than I realised. I'm now a very different wife, mother and friend but I'm also still me - I love that, it's so exciting!

Lizzie Bentley Bowers is a professional coach and facilitator who specialises in helping individuals and organisations to take control of their choices and to move forwards. Visit her website at www.lizziebentleybowers.com or www.coachingimpact.co.uk where she is an associate.