Do you keep telling yourself, “I need a new job!”
Are you thinking it every day?
Do you dream of starting a fresh, new career where people appreciate you? Where you can do the kind of work you enjoy, and be valued for your expertise? Or maybe reinventing yourself into a completely different job or industry where you’re doing something you’ve always dreamed about that’s meaningful and inspiring?
Maybe you’ve been pushing away that dream because it seems impossible, or overwhelming, or maybe because you simply don’t know how to change your career?
But what if you can no longer silence the dream? When that voice keeps coming back to you, louder and stronger, saying “I need a new job!”, and no matter how many times you push it out of your mind it keeps coming back. What do you do then?
The reason so many people stay in unmotivating and unfulfilling jobs is because it’s easy to do. It’s familiar, it takes minimal effort, it’s easy to blank out and be a zombie for 8 hours a day, and there’s comfort in knowing you’re getting the bills paid.
It’s easy because there’s minimal risk and minimal effort. But there’s also minimal reward. Doing drudgery work actually drains you of energy, makes you irritable and lowers your quality of life. However, when you’re energized in your job, then you’re making higher contributions, and therefore, have more opportunities for promotions, advancement and a higher quality of life.
Earlier in my career, I made the mistake of believing that if someone hired me, then that was where I was meant to be. BIG mistake!! I learned that I need to set the bar higher for myself. I learned that jumping into a new, and sometimes scary career was worth the risk. I also learned how to create more options and how to make better decisions about where I work and who I work for.
Life is way too short to stay in a meaningless job where you’re unfulfilled, unchallenged and under-valued. I’ve had a few of those jobs myself and I remember waking up every morning and dreading going into work. The highlight of my day was having lunch with some of my colleagues. If the highlight of your day is eating lunch – then it’s time for you to make a career change – or at least, start exploring new opportunities!
I’ve reinvented myself four (4) times and each time, I successfully landed in my dream career! For me, I tend to stay in a career 4-5 years, and then through natural curiosity (or A.D.D.? ;)) I tend to re-brand and reinvent myself into a different job role or industry. Each one of my career changes started out the same way – by allowing myself to dream about career possibilities and then creating an action plan.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT… Allow yourself time to dream.
Give yourself permission to daydream about career possibilities. (In fact, this is one of the key assignments I give to my clients which is why I believe they have such a high success rate!) Then, write it down and start talking to others who are in that industry or job role. Find out what a good day looks like for them, what a bad day looks like, what their biggest challenges are, etc.
The point is for you to find out whether you really want to be in that job one day. If you do, then the next step is to start taking action. How could you make that transition? Which of your skills are transferrable? Which companies are hiring for that job role?
If you get stuck, then reach out for help by talking to mentors or hiring a career coach.
Once you start taking action, you’ll be well on your way to making your dream career a reality! 🙂
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Sherri Thomas is a Career Strategist, international speaker and best-selling author of “The Bounce Back” and “Career Smart – 5 Steps to a Powerful Personal Brand. “ Get more tips and strategies on how you can bounce back from a layoff, re-org, bad manager or other career threatening setback in Sherri’s new book, “The Bounce Back” now available on AMAZON and BARNES & NOBLE.
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