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We’re often told that to achieve our dreams we need to eat, sleep, and breathe according to them. We need to make major sacrifices and commit time, money, and energy in pursuing our goals. However, with responsibilities, like bills and a family, it isn’t always possible to do that. You can’t just quit your job to persue another career, because you need money and stability. With that in mind, here are six things you should do follow your dream career while still working full-time.

Know What You Want

Before you do anything else, you need to figure out exactly what you want. You must admit your dream career and ask yourself what you’re willing to do to make it a reality. A dream is something you can’t stop yourself from pursuing, so you must choose to work hard and make sacrifices along the way. If this is something you can’t do, then it’s better to know it now rather than later.

 

Understand The Skills Required

Every job requires a specific set of skills and tools to be done well. It’s up to you to do your research and learn what skills are necessary for your wishlist career. Chances are, you have a pretty good idea of what these are already, but it’s still best to make sure. Look the career up online, read blogs and forums, and speak to others in the industry, so you know what to do.

 

Create A Development Plan

Once you have a list of qualifications and skills you require, you should plan how you’re going to gain them. Of course, this will be tricky around a full-time job, but it’s far from impossible. With today’s technology, you can take online nursing programs or business courses, which you can complete at your own leisure. Other career choices such as becoming a photographer don't require formal education and there are plenty of online photography lessons available to guide your passion. Ensure you plan practices for frequent and regular development.

 

Use Free Time Wisely

Even while taking care of a family, working a job, and learning online, you will still have some free time each day and week to do with what you wish. While it’s important that you spend some of this time relaxing and having fun, you should also dedicate some to your dream career. You can volunteer to gain experience in the industry or read articles to widen your knowledge.

 

Listen To Any Feedback

We all do things wrong and make mistakes in life, but, one of the worst you can make is not learning from them. Whether it be from your current boss, online tutor, study group, or mentor, you need to listen to and respond to all feedback you receive. If you fail to do this, you’ll never grow or improve, which will hold you back from securing your dream career later.  

 

Keep Up The Pace

Living the dream requires working the dream, which means that, even once you reach success, you can’t just quit. You need to ignore the myth of making it and not slow down until you’re ready to try something else. If your goals mean so much to you, then you’ll never reach a point that you get to stop working. Instead, you’ll keep up the pace and enjoy doing so.

 

Achieving your dreams is never easy, especially while working full-time, but, hopefully, with the advice above, you can see that it’s not impossible.