“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.” Anaïs Nin.

How do you feel about your work? Does it really reflect who you have grown into over the years and what you believe in? Does it engage both your heart and your mind?

Since you first started out the work place has changed. You have changed. Everything has changed. The pressure is intense. And work/life balance? For most people there just isn’t any. Many today are seriously thinking about making a change, striking out in a new direction. Perhaps you are, too, but unsure where to start.

Taking a risk, making a move is always scary and not to be taken irresponsibly. There are, understandably, exceptional times and situations when making a change is just not doable. Those aside, though, if you are consciously (conscious is the operative word) contemplating making a change – and are clear in your mind about you want to do – here are three questions to ask yourself.

1. Have you a plan? How are you going to accomplish this change? What action(s) do you need to take? What are the timelines? Are you prepared to sacrifice in the short term to gain in the long run? To work at it as long as it takes? What are the financial considerations? Are the people whom you love and who love you on board? Does your vision serve others?

2. Can you step outside your comfort zone? Stepping outside your comfort zone is never easy. It will take tons of courage, more faith in yourself than you ever imagined you had and a rock solid belief that where you are headed is an eminently better place than where you are now.

It won’t be easy. There will be setbacks and many challenges. Along with the dream comes hard work, but you are used to that. It is never too late.

But here’s the thing… there are no set rules and techniques involved in following your dream. Swimming against the current, taking your love out into the cold reality and conventions of the market place is an initiation of the soul. It is nothing less than a calling. And so we come to the most compelling question, the game changer:

3. When that little voice starts up again, whispering in the back of your head, this time, are you ready to answer?