Don’t Stay Stuck In Work That’s All Wrong: Transform It So You Get Unstuck!
I’ve heard this from many coaching clients over the years: despite stability and success, there’s an underlying monotony that can’t be ignored. I tend to think feeling doomed to staying stuck comes from our natural tendency to resist change. You can envision it – a different job, a new industry, even starting your own venture. But it’s daunting, isn’t it?
The mere thought of making a big change can bring up fears about what might go wrong, and those fears can hold you back. Sometimes for years. Actually, an awful lot of effort can go into avoiding change and that stifles our growth, leaving us feeling uneasy and unmotivated, over time. It’s soul destroying to watch anyone get stuck in this particular cycle of never quite solving their career problem.
So let’s think about career change for a minute. For example, working for someone else is often seen as the safe route – predictable hours, steady income, and a clear path. It’s comfortable. It meets expectations and brings with it the kind of status that seems satisfactory.While disrupting the status quo to make meaningful career change happen, can feel high risk and a lot like a negative – destabilising your income and may spark feelings of being irresponsible, this is not a luxury need when you loathe what you do every day.
What if we shifted our perspective on risk, focusing on how realigning work we love with the things that matter most actually allows us to grow and evolve?
In this light, staying in a job where someone else controls your time, freedom, tasks, income, and team might be riskier than taking the plunge into career redesign, where there’s potential for purposeful learning, choice-points that support success – as redefined by you – and the alive and aligned feeling that only comes with growth. That said, plenty of people find fulfilment sticking to that thing they do and maintaining great work/life balance. The key is to keep asking yourself the right questions and if you recognise you might be feeling somewhat stuck, see that as a cue to explore your options. Is there a career shift that’s been on your mind, nudging you towards aligned, career transformation?
In my recent chat with Steve Mellor on the Career Competitor podcast, we acknowledged the hollow feeling we can sometimes experience in our work, delve into breaking free from career stagnation and purposefully redesigning a career that truly aligns with those things that matter most and the life you want to be living.
Listen to our full conversation on Career Competitor
You’ll come away with these takeaways:
– Career transformation requires readiness and self-awareness.
– Staying stuck in a career that doesn’t align with personal values has a cost. Valuing oneself and one’s career direction is crucial for fulfilment.
– The process of career transformation involves building a career compass, redesigning one’s career, and developing a mindset for success that wins over one where you’re doomed to stay stuck.
To help you keep you thinking about your specific career context after that listen, here are two more resources I think are equally insightful:
The Ikigai Framework: This Japanese concept can guide you in aligning your career with your passions and strengths. Learn more about Ikigai and how it can help you think about career redesign.
Career Crisis Prompt Cards from The School of Life: These cards can help you explore different aspects of career satisfaction and find a path that really suits you. Check out this resource.
I hope it will provoke thought when you listen to the podcast and check out these resources. And I’m wondering, are you ready to take that first step toward realigning your career with the life you really want for yourself?
