You may have friends who changed careers when it didn’t look like they needed to. You may have wondered what gave them the courage to believe they could start over, doing something they’d never done before. You may have marveled at their immense pride in even modest success.

“Could you do that?”

You may have known others who walked away from seemingly comfortable careers and life styles to follow a dream. Their stories didn’t end as well. They lost their savings and worked several jobs just to pay bills. They’re miserable.

“Could that happen to you?”

How come it works for some and not for others?

The most successful career changers take the time necessary to know what they’re leaving and why they should. They know where they’re going and most of the steps it takes to get there. They’re emotionally prepared (as one can be) for personal and professional setbacks. They are sufficiently capitalized to get through start up without having to compromise their basic savings. They are calculated risk-taking optimists with one eye on the future and the other on the road.

Successful transition begins with self-awareness: an ability to objectively evaluate your state of being in conjunction with your state of doing. In other words:

Are you well matched to your work?

You perform tasks and interact with people. Do you have a proper balance between the two? Do you need more of one and less of the other?

What do you value most about what you do, where you do it, and who you do it with? How do your values compare to those demonstrated by your business leaders?

Are you optimistic about your career’s future? Do you believe that your area of specialization will continue to be in demand?

Are you doing what you need to keep pace by taking essential courses, reading, and learning from others?

Your continued career satisfaction is enhanced by your ability to objectively respond to the above and to determine where you stand.

It’s not unusual to find that people can be well matched to their work, share values with their organization, have the proper mix of tasks and people in their workday, believe their career’s future to be relatively safe, and still be unhappy.

How do you fare when you put these into the mix:

Recognition. Are you acknowledged for your work effort? Are you fairly compensated? Are you perceived as accountable as well as promotable?

Economic security. Are you concerned about your financial future? Do you fear that your company will be closed or purchased by a company with deeper pockets?

Control. Does your authority match up to your responsibility? Are you second-guessed or micro-managed? Conversely, are you pushed beyond your capacity in both your role and your learning curve?

Belonging. Do you feel that you are an essential player on a well managed team? Does the team communicate effectively and synergistically? Are managers communicating directly and honestly? Do you agree with the direction the company is taking?

What do you have in your career that you want to keep? What are you missing that you want to have? What questions do you have that you want to have answered?