Do you ever get the feeling that you haven’t quite got it all figured out? You’re surrounded by colleagues or friends who appear to be excelling in ‘adulting’ – achieving goals, realising dreams, and appearing very successful? If this doesn’t sound like the reality for you, maybe it’s time to redefine your goals and rewrite your future, whatever your age or stage of life.
Let’s assume nothing is really wrong with your job. The pay is ok, you have job security. You get along with your colleagues just fine, and feedback suggests that you are performing well. On a personal level, it ticks certain boxes, such as paying the bills and adding experience to your CV. So you tell yourself that it could be worse.
Of course, it could always be worse, but it could also be better. You could be fulfilled by the work that you do, inspired by your colleagues, and engaged with the organisation’s cause, culture and vision. If you could only pinpoint what it is you actually want out of your career and how to make it happen.
To get what you want out of life, you’ve got to know what it is that you want. Not knowing what you want is the ultimate blocker to getting out of the rut. Logically speaking, if you don’t know what you want, there’s no chance of you formulating a realistic plan towards purposeful change. If you’re risk averse, you’ll do nothing and exist in Groundhog Day for the foreseeable future. If not, you might jump ship to something new, but it could be luck rather than judgment that dictates whether you’ll land on your feet.
The difficult thing is that the deeper you get into the adult world, the less support people assume that you need, especially when your life seems pretty ‘sorted’ on the face of it. It can be hard not only to recognise that you’ve fallen out of love with your career but also to convince people that there is a real problem. This is combined with how easy it is to do nothing, which is a contrast to the difficulty of making a change. However, the sooner you confront the issue, the closer you will be to creating a more fulfilling life and career for yourself. It’s unlikely, after all, that a solution will land in your lap if you just sit back and wait.
Where to start? The answer lies in getting to know yourself better – your likes, dislikes, values, drivers, strengths, weaknesses, skills, traits, and preferences. All these things will point towards where your true sense of purpose sits and will guide you towards a career decision that is perfectly matched to your unique qualities. This is easier said than done, and there is no right or wrong; you could seek support from a career coach, or take part in psychometric and personality testing to establish what your core values are, you could also ask advice from human resources professionals.
Whatever you decide, the most important thing is that you don’t ignore those nagging feelings! If you would like a confidential discussion about your career, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
