There are few things more depressing than being stuck in a job you no longer love. We have a holiday celebrating romantic love, but why not one celebrating career love? Especially considering that many of us spend upwards of 25 percent of our waking hours on the job.
Ten years ago I took the leap from a corporate job that I no longer loved, to follow my heart and pursue work as a full-time marketer and writer. At times the ride was bumpy and jarring, an unsettling change … but I learned something very important:
When you love what you do, everything else has a way of falling into place.
If you are pondering a career change because you’ve grown weary in your work, here are a few suggestions and reflections from someone who has been there. Everybody is different and every situation is different, so I don’t expect all of this to apply to you. However, if you get one piece of useful information out of this article, I’m glad I wrote it.
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1. Your work environment isn’t going to change to accommodate you. You can plod along for decades thinking, “If only the company would change this, or if only my boss would do that, then everything would be great.” It’s a false hope. The reality is, companies are slow to adapt, and seldom do so to accommodate a single individual. If you don’t like the culture now, you probably won’t like it in the future. Staying will just grind you down.
2. Make sure your family is on board. Career change is stressful enough, without the added stress of a spouse or significant other who thinks you’ve gone stark-raving mad. I was lucky. Even though my wife must have been worried, she backed me up because she knew if I were happy, she’d be happy—and also because I took the time and effort to keep her involved and informed about my transition. Leaving a spouse or significant other in the dark only leads to uncertainty and anxiety, so don’t be an island.
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3. Have a financial plan for the transition. One of the scariest aspects of a career change is the possibility of losing income for an unknown and possibly protracted period of time. Debt with a plan is manageable, but debt without a plan leads to panic, which leads people to make rash decisions about what job or compensation to accept. My financial IQ is pretty weak; knowing this, I sought out a great financial advisor who talked me off the ledge when home budget issues appeared to be slipping out of control.
4. Don’t look back. Once you pull the trigger, commit fully to your new career path. If you dwell on all of the things you miss in your old job (for instance, job security), you’ll lose the energy and attitude you need to find a new job and flourish.
5. Have faith. What keeps people in a job they no longer love? For many, security and predictability drive inaction. Those things are important; I’m not knocking them. But if you let the insecurity and unpredictability of a career transition stop you, you may regret it in the years to come. I know a lot of people who left decent jobs, struggled through a transition, and lo and behold! They are now flourishing because they grabbed that better brass ring. Things do have a way of working out if you keep working at them.
When you love your job day in and day out, all of that happiness tends to spill over into every other part of your life. Good luck!
Read all of Brad Shorr’s articles on AllBusiness.com.
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