You're convinced you have the boss from Hell. Your co-workers give you the creeps. Your job is sucking the life out of you. You’ve got one "eerie careerie" going on. Want some sane advice? GET OUT NOW!

Sure, there are days in every job when you want to scream. But if your career has become an unending nightmare, you'd better shake yourself out of it, before you join the "living dead."  Look around you. I’ll bet some of them are amongst you already.

Many people talk about changing careers, but most don't stand a ghost of a chance of actually making the change. The prospect is so terrifying that they stop dead in their tracks. As they say, "better the devil you know than the one you don't." Fear creates career paralysis - and it can kill you.

Okay, so I'm a little sinister. Call me Freddy, or Jason if you want -- just don't call me Michael Jackson. I’m no thriller, but I'm pretty sure I can free you from the chilling effects of your current work-death sentence. It won't be easy, but you might yet survive to see a happy work-life.

BEWARE: NO TURNING BACK BEYOND THIS POINT!

To make your career change less scary, follow these steps:

1.  Face Your Fear. You don't have to fall prey to disillusionment. The flip side of fear is desire. If you desire the career change more than you fear the unknown, you'll already have one foot out of the grave. Cast your current situation as a Stephen King novel - let each new horror bring greater career rewards. In other words, ignore the ghouls and focus on your goals.

2.  Free the Ghosts of Your Past.  Our early career choices are strongly influenced by our parents, teachers and friends. Sometimes we just do what others expect of us - and then die a slow death. This is not your daddy's (or mummy's) workplace - it's yours. Let go of the haunting effects of approval from others. It’s okay to live your own life.

3.  Explore the Unknown.  Get beyond the skeleton of your career ideas. You don't know what you don't know. Dig up new resources. Otherwise you'll just return to the known. What type of career change will meet your needs? Clarify whether you need a full career change, a career shift or an industry or sector change before you leap.

4.  Confer With Those Who Have Gone Before You.  Talk with other people who have made successful career changes. Find out what worked for them. If you stick only within your inner circle (co-workers, friends, family), you'll mostly get spine-chilling reasons why you shouldn't make the change. Get some reality from "living" examples.

5.  Avoid the Graveyard Shift.  Don't dig yourself into another hole. You don't have to seek out a final resting place. Happy careers are alive - they evolve and grow. Whatever you decide to do, your next step is not eternal. You can continue to change, maybe even find another career in another life.

6.  Inscribe Your Own Tombstone.  When the time comes, what will your legacy be? Will it be that "he labored long and hard at a job he hated?" Or "she stuck it out as long as she could?"  If you want your tombstone to pay tribute to someone who set a positive example, made a difference and lived life to its fullest, then you better get started now, while there's still time.

7.  Have a Wicked Good Time.  More enjoyable and rewarding work comes when the process of seeking it out is, itself, enjoyable and rewarding. If you bury this like just another task on your "to-do" list to get to someday, it won't happen. You’ll always find reasons to delay it.

In the end, your work is a reflection of who you are. It reveals your values, skills and interests, and forms the lens through which people view your contribution to the world. What do you want them to see, a lifeless apparition or a lively spirit?  

© 2006, Career Planning and Management, Inc., Boston, MA.  All rights reserved.