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Believe me, there is a connection.

Last weekend, an eager audience gathered at the upscale Mazza Gallerie, in Washington, D.C., to learn about “Creating Your Own Best Life” from a panel of five wise and somewhat irreverent women authors perched before them.

I was delighted to be one of the experts enlisted to share some know-how along with Reina Weiner, author of Strong from The Start, Kimberly Palmer, author of Generation Earn, Jess McCann, author of You Lost Him at Hello and Patricia DiVecchio, author of Evolutionary Work.

We were peppered with questions about everything from career switching, dating tips, child-rearing, smart money management in your 20s and 30s… ways to unleash your potential, and much more. “No, you don’t need a nose job, McCann, a dating coach, quipped.

“You are pretty. You need an attitude adjustment, and remember to smile.” As I sat there, I realized at the core of it all was a simple message– attitude matters. When you want to start down a new path, you need the right mindset.

Whether you’re shooting to raise great kids, save for retirement in your twenties, find Prince Charming, or start over in a dream job, you’ve got to be game to change how you operate, how you see the world, and know in your heart that you can reach your goal with a new outlook. You have to believe.

Lasting change comes from within. It’s your first step. The rest will follow. As I offered up advice on changing careers, I could feel the mingling of desire and fear in those dreamers who came to hear how they could make a turn, to go in a different direction with their work life.

 

The urge to do something new was palpable. The panic over would they be able to make enough money if they changed course, was just as clear. I had to be honest. They probably would make less, at least initially. Expect to. And that might take some lifestyle changes, big ones, in some cases…and yep, a change in your attitude about spending and saving. You have to run lean if you’re making a big work transition. It takes a lot of soul-searching to accept what you can do without, what you’re willing to forgo for a better work life.

But I’m an optimist and a big proponent of taking chances, calculated ones. And of all the winning career switchers I have met, one major reason for their success was that they took their time and mapped out a financial strategy and a budget that allowed them to ease into their new field without mounting debts.

Not everyone has that luxury, of course. That said, even if you’re holding a pink slip and are pressed to get back on a payroll before too long, carve out time to make a budget. Get a snapshot of the ways you spend your money, how much you have saved, if there are ways to trim back that will allow you to move in a new direction– gracefully.

If you aren’t financially prepared to make a move, you’re in trouble–no matter how dazzling your dream is, or fervent your passion. It all comes down to hard numbers. Can you afford it? That’s the real fear stopping most people–even more so if you have college tuitions to pay or a hefty mortgage.

Money is the biggest stumbling block to making a change, but making the right moves will smooth your path.

Read my 5 steps to financial fitness to get started.

Here’s a sneak preview.

One of my favorite examples of pre-switch financial make-overs is Cliff Stevenson, who I profile in my book, What’s Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job. Cliff quit his 20-year mortgage banking career to teach social studies to high-schoolers, and surprise, his salary took a nose-dive. To help smooth that jolt, he and his wife sold their century-old Victorian home outside Pittsburgh for twice what they paid, downsizing to a smaller townhouse on up-and-coming Washington’s Landing, an island in the Allegheny River, within spitting distance of Pittsburgh’s downtown Golden Triangle. Now they don’t have a mortgage. “We loved our house, but it was a hundred-year-old house with an acre of land,” Stevenson says. “Every weekend there were four or five chores to be done. I like to do that stuff myself, but it was too much. Moving to the two-bedroom condo freed up a lot of time and money.”

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