“Should I stay or should I go?”

I receive emails each month from  people with questions about every aspect of their professional lives and aspirations.  Some want to quit, others to start their own businesses, others yet want to be promoted, get a raise, move to another country, tell their boss to go to h*ll, and more.  Some questions represent a dilemma that more people are facing, like this one I received yesterday.  The inquirer shared:

 “I’m 36 and work in a mid-level corporate role.  I know I don’t like my work (and haven’t liked it for more than 3 years or so), and things are not going great at the company, but it pays  well, has good benefits and there are some things that are OK about it (mostly that it pays a regular paycheck that feels “secure”).  I was promoted recently too, but still I agonize daily whether I should change careers or just leave it alone and stick with it.  How can you tell if you should change careers or not?

There are 5 critical ways to determine reliably and effectively if you should change careers, and once you get to these signs, you’ll be able to answer for yourself in a heartbeat, “Should I stay or should I go?”

The 5 ways to tell if you should change careers are:

1. You are chronically worn out, exhausted and depleted.

If you experience chronic illness, debilitation, and exhaustion, the first place I’d look is your work.  Most of us spend more hours working than doing anything else, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that if you don’t like your work it can very easily make your body break down. It may be your specific job or toxic work environment that are breaking you down, but often it’s your entire career that needs a shift.

2. Your skills, responsibilities, and tasks are not you at all.

This can be a shocker for some folks that you might have become very good at work that you hate.  For example, I used to be really good at presenting to senior leaders the facts, data and new marketing strategies about the products I managed, but inside it was a horrible struggle. I just couldn’t seem to hold onto the key statistics or data about these products because I couldn’t care less about them.

3. You’ve come to the point where your salary no longer makes up for the boredom and emptiness you feel.

Most people who dislike like their work but are reluctant to change would say it’s their fear about walking away from the money that keeps them stuck. At some point, many are saying, “Hang on here – I have this money, but I hate how I spend my life making it.”  They begin to rethink their priorities and their abilities, and then they open their eyes to new ways they can make the money without risking their lives for it

4. Despite all the “right” choices you made in your career, the outcome feels very wrong.

So many professionals have made all the “right” choices, done everything that was expected of them, so when they wake up bored to death with their work, they’re shocked and confused.  The thing to realize here is that the “right” choices usually had to do with pleasing others, stroking your ego, or taking work or a promotion that fell in your lap, rather than asking yourself the tough questions like “Is this where I belong?”

5. You have the irrepressible feeling that your talents and abilities could/should be used in a totally different (more creative and impactful) way.

If you  used to say to yourself every day in your corporate life, “I know I’m made for better things than this.” If you think, “There’s got to be more in life,” then there IS more to life than what you’re currently doing – no question.

I am a career growth and professional success coach and for more on building a happier, more successful career, visit cariere-de-succes.ro