“I want to look back on my career and be proud of the work, and be proud that I tried everything.” – Jon Stewart

Even dream jobs come with lows. Your job may be packed full of highs most of the time, but we, as humans, will always find something to gripe about on occasion. This is perfectly normal, I think. However, if you start to find your grievance outweighing your gladness, you may start to believe that something is amiss.

Sure, sometimes this ill feeling toward your job is temporary, or maybe even an overreaction. That said, it is very easy to bury one’s head in the sand or to convince one’s-self that everything is actually fine, when, quite plainly, it is not. There are many ways of judging when it might be time to get out of there, as opposed to soldering on or trying to fix the working situation you are in. So, pursue this article and ask yourself; is it time for you to change career?

 

1. What is Your Body Saying?

Do your limbs ache? Are you getting headaches? Is your resilience nowhere to be found? Does getting up in the morning for work fill you with dread of a tight chest? Do you get the ‘Sunday-Night-Fear’ at the end of every single week?

Essentially, is your body in a constant state of tension, pain or distress as a direct consequence of the job you are in? If so, you can’t sustain a life feeling like that. It might be time for a big change.

2. How is Your Confidence?

Perhaps your job is impacting your confidence. Maybe you are doubting your ability to do the job to its fullest quality. If you are walking about in the world feeling miles away from who you really are, or if you are missing the ‘old-you’, or if your lack of confidence is seeping into other areas of your life, a new career might be a positive move.

3. Money is Your Sole Motivation

We spend most of our lives working. We need money, of course, but if that is all you are getting from your career, it simply isn’t worth it. You cannot be resilient through life doing a job that you don’t get anything from other than financial gain. If you don’t like the industry, the people, the specific job, your role, the culture… any of those things, then move on!

4. Passionless Passions

If you are finding that you don’t even have fun during your leisure time, that your job is so personally destructive that you can’t leave it behind in your own time, then that is a problem. Maybe you aren’t even bothering to try and engage with your hobbies and passions. Big red flag!

5. Jealousy

Do you look at the jobs and the lives of friends and relatives and wish you had what they had? Does comparing your career to the careers of those on your social media feeds make you feel incredibly jealous? Then this might be a sign. That said, comparison is the root of self-doubt, and should never be indulged for too long. That is not to say it might not be a signpost that you need to make a career change.

6. You Aren’t Who You Used to Be

As touched on earlier, you may just not be feeling like yourself. I have had times in my life where I have felt very down, and that the person who has achieved so many amazing things in the past, doesn’t seem to be in me anymore. I can’t fathom how a person who felt like I did could ever have been capable of those successes and the vibrancy and hope I used to have. I knew, in these times, that a big change was needed. Do you feel that way?

By Chris Thomson

 

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