There are many reasons you may have spent an entire career in a job or career that you liked, but didn’t necessarily love. Perhaps you felt pressure from your parents, needed a steady income, or were too unsure of yourself to follow your dreams. Or, maybe your values and interests simply changed along the way and you no longer feel fulfilled by what you’re doing.

The idea of returning to work after a significant amount of time away causes many professionals to feel pretty intimidated. After all, whether you spent your time off raising kids, caring for a loved one, or traveling the world, the reality is that your industry – and the workforce in general – has likely changed substantially in your absence. In fact, you have no doubt changed quite a bit in the years since you’ve left. As such, to achieve a successful transition back to work, you’ll first need to identify what all of these changes mean to you and how they’ll influence your new career path. Here’s how to get started:

You’ve no doubt heard of the mid-life crisis and the quarter-life crisis – now it’s time to get acquainted with the mid-life career crisis.

The mid-life career crisis hits most people about halfway through their career, when they start thinking about all they have not achieved professionally. For example, maybe you’re not as successful or accomplished as you thought you’d be by now. Maybe you’re unhappy because you dislike your boss, are unfulfilled, or are tired of traveling all the time. Maybe you’re even fantasizing about starting your own business or transitioning into a new industry. Regardless of the specifics, you thought you’d have your career figured out by now, and instead everything feels very uncertain.