Achieving your dream career takes courage, clear direction, and motivation – and is also likely to require time, money and some effort on your part. Is it worth it? To the many who have replied to the dream career blog post, the answer seems to be a resounding “yes”.

I thank those who shared their incredibly motivating career stories; many are returning to school as adults, changing their careers after 15+ years with a company or an occupation. They are investing in themselves and taking some financial risk in order to achieve their career dreams.

In addition to the many terrific stories in the comments section of the blog post, there was a recent example in the NYTimes article about Wylie and Katie Schwieder and some other professionals who decided to make big changes in their careers and become teachers after years in corporate roles. The Schwieders joined a Career Switchers program in Virginia enabling them to fast-track to fulfilling their career goals. This program to license teachers in Virginia costs $3,150 and takes about 18 months, an investment of both time and money for the Schwieders.

From a financial perspective, investing in your career may be much easier than you think, especially if you are currently working. If you are like many working adults, you probably have some discretionary or disposable income. Discretionary income is the amount remaining from your income after you have paid your taxes, insurance, rent/mortgage and all other life essentials such as your housing, food, and clothing. You can use the Disposable Income Calculator to make the estimate of your disposable income.

Do you want to calculate how much money you have - that will not really be missed each month? If so, please take the free interactive career tool to assess the money you have to invest in yourself. This tool will help you estimate how much you could invest in yourself with very few, if any, changes to your current lifestyle.

Think of the many things you could do with a little extra money to invest in your career. Just a few examples: Take a class. Develop a website. Attend a trade show. Buy equipment, software, etc.

Even if you do need to spend some time and money, taking the necessary steps to your ideal career is well worth the investment for longer term happiness and fulfillment.

Paula