People don’t like change. We are hard-wired to prefer the predictable and avoid risk where possible. This is one reason why people tend to put up with jobs they dislike, sometimes for years (I explore other reasons why people do this in my previous article ‘The FIVE reasons people stay in jobs they hate‘)
But, re-aligning your career to be more enjoyable rarely requires the drastic action we fear. Relatively small shifts can make a big difference and, for many people, changing just one aspect fixes their problem.
Take one of my recent clients. She completed my signature program, Define Your Future, to do a complete review and re-plan of her career because she was so unhappy in her current situation. We went through the full process and over the course of just a few weeks she realised that her current job was actually her perfect job (for now, anyhow), it was just in the wrong company.
Fast forward a couple more weeks (and a few job applications) and she has accepted a new, very similar, role but with a company more aligned with her values and preferences. She couldn’t be happier or more relieved to have resolved the problem.
So the moral of the story is that without analysing your current challenges and preferences (interests, skills, environment, and motivation) in a structured way, you won’t pinpoint the core issue, and you will stay unhappy longer than you need to. Simply assessing your situation is nothing to fear, and the solution to your problem may be far simpler than you think.
How to avoid the ‘change’ in ‘career-change’
How small shifts can make a big difference