His big lesson: Don’t be afraid to move on to something you may enjoy more.

Reinvention expert, Peter Fogel said people often are eager to jump into a profession that looks exciting or different and fail to look at where it’s headed. “You have to look at where the industry is going to be in next five years. Get beyond the sizzle and learn what is at stake.”

Most of the time, he says, the information is a mouse click away. Fogel, a comedian who reinvented himself as a copy writer, speaker and author of Reboot Your Career, recommends talking to people in the field you plan to jump into. “You want to make sure you have no false expectations.”

One route some reinventors have taken is to ease into a new career and figure out how to parlay it into something bigger — an additional job title. Jean Newell, 64, had sold homes in Broward County since the early 1970s. A few years ago, while showing homes, she found herself constantly looking for her mobile device, calling her cellphone to track it down. Finding other agents had the same problem, she created a business tool belt for professionals, the beginning of her new career as an inventor. Newell successfully self–marketed her product (the PUP — personal utility pouch) to gift catalogs, retail chains and even to QVC. As sales picked up, the housing market collapsed and after 35 years as a real estate agent, Newell made the scary transition to become a full-time entrepreneur.

Today, Newell operates Newco Enterprises, which sells products and seminars. She also has used her entrepreneurial success as a springboard into another career — reinvention consultant. Earlier this year, she authored Turn Your Pink Slip into a Red Hot Business and recently was hired by NASA to advise its aerospace engineers in Florida on a career transition into entrepreneurship. Her advice: “Don’t spend a lot of money to make a career transition. Get creative; solve a problem.”

While it’s easier to transition while you’re still employed, Newell says her experience shows sometimes you have to make a leap and then another leap. “The light bulb goes off and you realize just what it is you have to offer.”

Typically, experts advise reinventors to contemplate turning a hobby into a new career. That’s what Diane Taylor did, at first. A victim of widespread layoffs in the pharmaceutical industry, Taylor, 42, indulged her lifelong hobby and dream. She continued to job hunt and at the same time founded a nonprofit animal rescue called Warm Hearts and Good Karma in Boynton Beach. Last month, Taylor took in a partner to share the costs. The move opened the door to a paying job — running a pet-sitting business. “My partner bought a business and I’m going to run it for her,” Taylor said. “You have to go through the steps and that can be extremely hard. But I am really happy with the way things have gone.”

Workplace columnist Cindy Krischer Goodman is CEO of BalanceGal. Visit her website at www.worklifebalancingact.com or email her with ideas or comments at balancegal@gmail.com.