Have you ever had days where you find that you're just not enjoying what you're doing anymore? Maybe you are short with your family or coworkers during the workweek, or you dread the end of the weekend. Perhaps you're counting down to retirement not because you're particularly excited for it, but because you really don't want to work where you're working.
For some people, a career transition is more about seeking clarity and figuring out what they want to do. For others, it's realizing a calling they lost sight of. I help guide professionals through it all.
Determining What's Right For You
I often find that when my clients talk about feeling lost or dissatisfied with their jobs, they don't realize that their values and the values of the organization have gotten too far out of alignment. Determining what’s right for you means looking at your job and saying, “This isn't what I want to do anymore,” and finding what it is you need.
Some symptoms of being out of alignment with your organization include:
No longer speaking up at meetings
Not wanting to learn something new
You received a bad performance review
You're not in sync with your team
What mattered in your 20's and 30's doesn't matter as much anymore
Your priorities have changed
The truth of it is our jobs are a big part of our lives. I think it makes sense that when you're paying for a big house you're never in, or don't see your family anymore because your job is your focus, you start wondering why you continue to work in the job or field that you do.
Oftentimes, people come to me knowing they want to make a change, but they don’t know exactly what that is. They might have an idea, but they’re not sure how to execute it. That’s where I come in.
What most people don't realize is that the time put in and knowledge and wisdom gained in your current position can be taken into your new career. Maybe you've been a business analyst and you take those skills to the marketing department, or you take advantage of your corporate skill set and help others build the careers they've always wanted for themselves.
The biggest obstacle to making a career change is the CHANGE aspect of it—making it all happen, working through the tactical aspects, getting really grounded in who you are, and getting clear and confident about what the next step is.
So, What Does the Next Step Look Like?
I know change is never easy no matter what you're doing, and especially with a career you’ve likely had as a large part of your identity for a number of years. Money concerns may come into play, or maybe you feel that you’re falling short on expectations you’ve had for yourself. So, what is the biggest driver for change?
It comes down to what we really NEED.
What I often discover when talking with my clients is that they considered their career all throughout the exploratory phase of college, but as they moved along, they kind of went about their business, or they had a family, or they lost a little sense of themselves.
With that in mind, I find that identifying your values and gaining clarity on what you need is really, really important; and then thinking about what those values mean in the workplace is crucial to pinpointing what you need.
When you identify your values, you get really grounded in who you are, which is a big part of gaining clarity. Oftentimes when people are unhappy, they start looking at job postings and say, “I can do that, and that, and that...” The critical piece they're missing is do they WANT to do that and does it work for them at this point in their life?
Another important thing to look at is the values of the company itself. While a company doesn't have the same living, breathing values that a person does, it does include values overall, such as caring for the community, upholding integrity, emphasizing family time, and so forth.
Before you even start to look at job postings, you need to think about:
What you liked about previous jobs
What you didn’t like
What you liked in school
What you need now
Finding personal wellness in your career is all about balancing your values and preferences, your likes and dislikes, and then using those points of reference to tell a story of what could be next for you.
If you are looking to pivot, or change jobs, or do an entire 180-degree turn in your career, don’t just jump into the next thing. Slow down and take the time to consider what’s right, what works, and what you need. And if you need a little guidance in the process, contact me. Together we can pinpoint what your next step may be.
