So, you’re midway through your career. You’ve invested a great deal of your time, energy and passion into it but it no longer feels right. In fact, it has begun to feel so wrong that the thought of doing it for another 20+ years sends shivers up your spine.
Maybe your boss is driving you up the wall? Maybe your work has lost its meaning? Maybe you’ve kept yourself in a holding pattern until the kids move onto their next life stage? Maybe you’re feeling under-appreciated by co-workers? Or perhaps you’ve experienced a major life event that has caused you to lift your head up from the never-ending workload to evaluate if this is what you want to be doing for the next few decades?
Unless you’re the sole heir to a Great Aunt Maud’s fortune and she’s looking a little peaky, it’s probably time to figure out your next steps to avoid spending the upcoming 20+ years doing work that doesn’t make you happy.
Does that sound familiar?
How to kick-start a potential career change:
Pause with a pen
Before you contact recruiters to hatch an escape plan, take some time to pin-point the specific reasons why you’re unhappy at work. It’s too easy to keep complaining about the boss, the industry, the commute, the workload etc but it’s clarifying to write down the specific elements that are making you feel stuck.
When you have your long-list, go deeper to find your INSTEADS. Why does the commute seriously bother you? What is it that you’d like instead? What is it about your boss that drives you round the bend? How would you prefer her/him to behave instead? Why is it that the industry that you used to love is irritating you now? Which other industries might possess the elements that you miss?
Your Superpowers
To build the foundations of a career you could love, you need to focus on the only element of your career that will remain the same over the next 20 years – YOU!
Figuring out which of your Superpowers you want to use in your future work gives you the framework from which to build your more satisfying career. Superpowers are the unique combination of your personal signature strengths. When you use them, you feel deeply satisfied and fulfilled.
Everyone of us has at least six or seven of them but because they come so easily to us, we often under-value them.
To find them ask yourself the following questions:
● Which are the activities in work that you cannot stop doing?
● Which activities are you performing when time seems to disappear?
● What do you often receive compliments for doing?
● Which activities do you look forward to most?
● Which activities have the ability to make it a good day at work?
When you become aware of your specific Superpowers, it often becomes crystal clear why you are not enjoying your work at the moment.
Seek out real-life career change stories:
4 years ago, when I was feeling unhappy in my work, I thought I was the only human in the world who had invested 20 years in a career that they didn’t want to do anymore! But deep down I knew that there had to be individuals who had lost the love of their work and found it again. And I wanted to be one of them.
I’ve since interviewed 100 mid-career professionals who’ve changed careers successfully to understand their secrets.
Once you begin to seek out individuals who have designed more happiness into their work, you realise that they are everywhere – in every supermarket, at every sports match, at every parent’s evening, in every pub and restaurant. Their stories inspired me to share their lessons and inspire others to get behind the driving seat of their careers once more.
Why now?
Because your time is too precious to waste it doing work that doesn’t make you happy.
The above 3 activities will kick start a process from which there is no return.
● You’ll be clear about what is driving you crazy at your current work
● You’ll have clarified what you want instead
● You’ll know which of your Superpowers you want to get paid to use in the future
● You’ll have spoken to/read about others who have changed careers successfully
You’ll be ready to take the next step in your quest for more enjoyable work.
If you like this post, why not read How To Change Career And Still Thrive or How To Build A Personal Brand And Push Your Career Forward.
Bio
Lucia Knight is the founder of Midlife Unstuck, a career satisfaction coaching business. She spent 20 years in the world of corporate headhunting before deciding that she needed to do more fulfilling work. On her website www.midlifeunstuck.com you’ll find stories of aerospace executives who became gin-makers, teachers who became micro-bakers and a whole range of professionals who left corporate life behind or designed it in a way that made them happier. Her new book XChange will be released in June 2019. Why not also connect with her on Linkedin.
Most of first jobs are just for experience preferences only. But quitting from your first job should have good timing. Especially if you don’t know how to do it confidently. Make sure that your next career will be a good one. Thank you for sharing such great tips.
These are 3 very good activities. I like the one about looking for career change stories. It’s always inspiring to learn from others who already took the path we are exploring for ourselves. We just have to reach out to them and ask questions. It’s not always easy but people love to help! So we just have to connect to them and listen.
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Hi Marion – thanks for your comment. Glad you liked the article.
Change can be overwhelming. Especially if you have found yourself doing the same thing or working for the same people for many years. It’s risky to try and jump ship or improve your situation. But taking a risk can be life-changing for the better.
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Realizing that your “dream job” has become a nightmare is as heart-wrenching as breaking up with someone you once loved. And speaking from experience, the process of grief and recovery is almost the same.
It’s also not as uncommon as you may think to leave a job shortly after starting. A lot of people leave jobs after a short period of time. They might not shout it from the rooftops so you may feel like you’re the only one, but it happens more than you think. I know this might feel like a really big deal right now, but in just a few years it will likely be something you look back on and see as a small hiccup in your larger career journey. And you may even thank your present-day self for taking the steps to find work you enjoy and succeed in.