Reinvent Your Life

Satisfaction is compromised if any of these are missing, but it may not be cause for a total life change. It's important to question yourself before you make the leap.

"Do I need a total change of scene, or do I just need a vacation?" offers Schairer. "Do I need to change my whole entire career, or do I just need to change the company I'm working with? Many times, people think the whole industry they're working in is terrible, but it's not. Sometimes you don't have to change your career; you just have to change your company."

That's what Rockville resident Audrey Schaefer did four months ago. By day, she was vice president of corporate communications at a telecom company in Reston. By night, she was addicted to music, seeing up to six bands a week to slake her thirst for alternative, hip-hop and indie sounds. She called herself "a corporate suit with the musical tastes of a petulant 17-year-old."

So with two children still in school, she walked away from her high-paying job to start from the ground up. Now working from home, she's nurturing Schaefer + Company Communications, her own music marketing firm. She earns in two months what she used to make in two days, but she goes to concerts for work and sees her kids and husband more.

"When you get to the point where it's more frightening to stay and do the same thing over and over again than it is to leap, then that's the time to go," says Schaefer, 47. "Is it scary? Sure. Is it exciting? You bet."

It comes down to this: What do you want more of, and what do you want less of? These are the first questions that life coach Wendy Billie asks clients. What is your life dream, and why is it not your reality? What was happening the last time you felt blissful and things came naturally? These are all good questions to ask, but make sure you're getting at your inner motives.

"People might ask themselves, ' Where do I want to be?' but they leave out the 'why,' " says Billie, who's based in the District and works part time for Feroce Coaching. "And the 'why' is getting to the purpose behind making decisions."

People can languish in unhappy lifestyles for years, fearing change will upset whatever good remains. Quinn suggests asking yourself four distinct questions to put yourself in charge: What result do I want to create? Am I internally directed as opposed to being compelled to please others? Am I focused on the common good? Am I open to feedback and outside cues?

Once you have your sights set on a change, experts recommend trying a profession or environment before you commit to it. Do it yourself or do it through a service such as VocationVacations ( http://www.vocationvacations.com), an Oregon-

based company that facilitates brief immersion programs in more than 75 careers (from a $399 one-day brewmaster experience to a $2,999 two-day run as a Broadway director).

You may find that your theoretical dream job is a nightmare. "Before someone goes off and spends three-quarter of a million dollars on a bed-and-breakfast, it's better to test-drive it," says VocationVacations founder Brian Kurth. "We're a first decent-sized baby step."

Don't worry if you don't have the time or the money to experiment. The first step toward considering a start-over is free: putting it in ink.