Making a Career Switch Between Two Completely Different Paths With Craig Cody (135)

Craig Cody shares how he went from being a New York City police officer to becoming an accountant and why making a career swtich is possible for you too!
The post Making a Career Switch Between Two Completely Different Paths With Craig Cody (135) appeared first on Life Skills That Matter.

Are you thinking about working in a completely different field, but feel it’s so different you’ll never be able begin making a career switch?

Craig Cody explains how he made a dramatic career change from being a lieutenant for the New York Police Department to become an accountant and certified tax coach after 17 years on the force.

And to make it even more challenging he did it in the middle of his career, while he was still supporting a young family and eventually went out on his own!

He’ll share how making a career switch is possible for you too!

He’s been working for himself for the past dozen years. He told me he decided to work for himself after being inspired by his brother who was already working on his own.

He specializes in tax planning and strategies. He co-authored an Amazon best-selling book, Secrets of a Tax-Free Life.

There are a lot of great lessons packed into our conversation, including:

Why the first step Craig took toward switching careers was talking about it with other people.
Why communication was the key skill he learned from being a police officer that helped him build his career as an accountant.
Why Craig decided to focus on a specific niche of potential clients to build his business.
And how your tax situation changes when you become self-employed.

Life Skills That Matter In This Episode

Align your habits with your purpose.
Self-directed learning.
Embrace discomfort.
Communication.
Tackle making a career switch.

How Craig Works and Thinks

Wake up time:  Between 5:30 and 6:00 am.
Core work activities + habits:  1) Marketing and bringing business in.  2) Making sure the flow of work and business is properly allocated.  3) Making sure everyone in the business is happy and as productive as they can be.
Ideal work environment:  Go into the conference room and close the door to get quiet time to accomplish some deep work.
Definition of success:  It starts with family and goes to freedom and money.
Regains focus by:  Go for a walk or make a cup of coffee, take time to settle himself and get rid of distractions.
90-day goal:  Continue to grow the business, enjoy the summer, and keep taking on good clients.

Inspirational Quotes

“You had to know how to communicate with everybody and treat them all with respect.”

“Having some type of expertise that not everybody has makes you not a commodity and allows you to provide more value.”

“The biggest mistake I see people make is they don’t communicate with their accountant.”

“Most people look at tax and accounting as an expense part of the business, I look at it as an income part of the business.”

To start getting the ball rolling on a career change or new business idea, Craig recommends the following actions:

1) Start while you’re still working elsewhere.  Ramp your business up while still working full or part-time to ease the transition.

2) Keep your expenses as low as possible.  Save enough to cover expenses for at least a few months.

3) Understand your business model and plan your financial runway accordingly.

Deep Work by Cal Newport

Free copy of Craig’s 10 Biggest Tax Mistakes That Cost Business Owners Thousands

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The post Making a Career Switch Between Two Completely Different Paths With Craig Cody (135) appeared first on Life Skills That Matter.