As a climate coach, I have the privilege of supporting people to find meaningful work that makes a difference for the planet. I love working with big-hearted people and supporting their inspiring ambitions to promote the long-term wellness of life on earth. 

If you’re looking to work in the sustainability sector, know that you have options!   Whether it’s making a massive career shift or finding ways to integrate sustainability into your existing role, there’s possibility everywhere. With that said, I also know the transition can feel daunting. So, how can you stay motivated along the way?

Here are five things you can do:

1. Explore what you’d love to do (not just what you should or can do).

A lot of my clients initially hesitate to pursue their ideal careers because they’re worried they might fail. That’s totally understandable!  It’s natural to have doubts about whether the thing you’d love to do is realistic or achievable. And yet, if you don’t explore that possibility, you’ll never know what will happen. When I first made the decision to quit my job and be a climate coach, part of me felt totally clueless. I wondered, “how do I set up my finances? Where do I start in recruiting clients? How am I going to make enough money? Who will even sign up to this?”  Nevertheless, I gave myself permission to learn, experiment, make mistakes and try again. I stayed willing to keep at it, step by step. 

As I slowly progressed on my path, I found friends and allies along the way. People I hadn’t spoken to in years reached out to congratulate me. My old colleagues helped me strategize and launch my business. My good friends referred me to clients. And others in my professional network hired me for workshops. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t given it a shot.

2. Remember your “why”

You’ve made the decision to work in sustainability for a reason. Whether you’re seeking justice for marginalized communities, to keep nature’s awe-inspiring beauty intact, to uphold the rights and interests of non-human life, to put an end to all waste, or to create a better future for your children and grandchildren, you have a “why”. Deep down, you know what really motivates you to do this work. When things get hard, it’s worth reminding yourself of this. Anchoring to these core intentions is an excellent way to stay motivated and grounded, even in difficult moments.

3. Create a clear and specific vision

When you’re shifting from your current job to your ideal career, it’s tempting to stay open to a wide range of disciplines, fields and roles to not close yourself off to opportunity. But your growth path will look different depending on what kind of role you’re looking for. That means the skills and experience you might need to build will be different too. And if you aren’t focused on one specific direction, you risk spending a lot of time and energy spinning your wheels in different directions without actually going anywhere.

So, what kind of a sustainability job would you love? Are you looking to work in communications at a community health nonprofit? Do you love the idea of working for a climate tech startup? Are you looking for a sales role at a renewable energy company? What problems in the world would you love to address, and who’s currently working on them? What are your skills and how can they help these organizations? What might you need to do to get noticed? If you have a specific vision in mind, you can more easily focus on finding relevant connections and building the most valuable experience you’ll need to progress in your area of focus.

Try this exercise: Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has an excellent Venn diagram exercise to bring this all together. Take 10-15 minutes to check it out and find where your passions and skills intersect with the work the world needs.

4. Know Your Worth

If you’ve found yourself 50 or 100 job applications in and still without an interview or offer, it can be tempting to judge yourself harshly and think you’re just not good enough to work on sustainability. It can be especially difficult for groups like women and people of colour who live in a patriarchal and colonial society and who experience more barriers to getting hired.

When you’re working really hard at something and not getting the results you want, it has nothing to do with your worth or abilities. Typically, one or a combination of three things might be happening:

• Your expectations may not align with reality
• There may be a skill or some knowledge you need to build
• You’re consciously or unconsciously behaving in a way that doesn’t align with your core values and motivations

In other words, there is something about the situation that you can change. For example, if you struggle to talk about yourself with confidence, it can affect how you show up in networking conversations and interviews. If this is the case for you, know that regardless of where you’re at, you have a unique set of skills, qualities and experiences that will add value to wherever you want to work. Discovering what those are, and how they add unique value to your prospective employers, can help you to really see your worth and share it proudly and authentically.

Try this exercise: Answer these questions to identify your strengths.

• What activities make you feel energized, excited and engaged? What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
• What strengths and abilities have others said they see in you?
• What have been your most significant achievements to date? What strengths were required to realize them?
• How can these strengths specifically support the organizations you’re looking to work for? What value can you add? What can you help them accomplish / do differently?

5. Enjoy the journey (growth takes time!)

Imagine you’re moving a plant from one garden to another. It takes time, energy, nutrients, and water for that plant to settle into new soils and grow. Similarly, it will take some time for you to build the right skills, knowledge connections and capacities to land the career you’d love.

The real trick is to learn to enjoy the process of the transition itself. This might mean celebrating your wins (no matter how small), keeping a gratitude journal, reflecting on what you’ve learned from past failures, and focusing on the next manageable step rather than feeling daunted by the size of the entire staircase. When you enjoy the journey,  you create the conditions for yourself to flourish, and you’ll show up differently as a result.

It takes a lot of courage to make the choice to work in a career that truly aligns with your values. And it’s absolutely possible for you to get from where you are now to where you want to be. I hope that these tips can help you to keep going – one step at a time. I wish you success on your career search – and I deeply appreciate you for dedicating your passion and skills to the sustainability movement!

Amy Castator is a long-time climate activist and community builder. She is the co-founder and President of Carbon Conversations TO, and for 8 years, worked at WWF-Canada managing the award-winning Living Planet @ Work program. Amy has supported thousands of employees from workplaces across the country to take action for nature. Amy is now the Founder of Amy Castator Coaching, a life coaching practice that helps people create and move toward a vision for a life they love that integrates purpose, care for our planet, and care for themselves.