Most of the people I know spend at least half of their waking hours at work. If for no other reason, that is why our jobs should be full of meaning, joy and opportunities for personal growth and development. Unfortunately, this is far from always the case. So, why don’t we leave a job that makes us unhappy? Why is it so difficult for us to make the decision to change jobs? I put these questions to several of my current and former clients, to try to gain a better understanding of their thought processes. Here are their answers.
- I don’t know what I want!
Many ask themselves, ‘what am I doing in this job?’ Where am I heading? One person I talked to said, ‘I simply have no idea what I want to do in the future’. Of course, it’s difficult to move forward if you haven’t got a clue where you’re going. It can feel like heading into the dark, in the words of another client: ‘The thought of changing jobs feels like heading into “a black hole” with a completely unknown territory on the other side.’
- I know what I have, but I don’t know what I’ll get!
Will ‘what I get’ actually be better than ‘what I have’? This lack of a guarantee can be a stumbling block for many. As one of the people I interviewed put it: ‘The job I have isn’t the best, but at least I know what I have. Should I let go of that to try something I don’t know?’
- I don’t actually know what skills I have and whether they can be put to use in a new context!
A lack of understanding of our skills, and how they can be put to use and in which type of company, are some of the main reasons why we stay where we are. The same goes for not feeling our skills ‘are good enough’. One of the people I talked to said: ‘Do I feel sufficiently confident in myself? I have a fear of not being good enough at my job! I’m worried that other people will define me by my profession! How do I convince people that I’m not ‘my profession’ and would be perfectly capable of doing a different job with the personal skills that I have?’
- It would be better if only………
‘Things will improve when I finish this project; when I get some more staff; when the IT system has finally been implemented,’ and so on… The list of things that ‘just have to fall into place’ for everything to be fine is endless. To some extent, this is because people tell themselves they are not ‘quitters’ who give up easily. They convince themselves that things aren’t as bad as they seem.
- I’m not capable of doing it on my own…..
Many people find it difficult to make a job change on their own. At the same time, they have a hard time admitting it. It makes them feel like a “failure”. As one person said, ‘I can’t cope with the thought that I need help to move on – I’m not the kind of person who needs help!’
Do these statements sound familiar? And are you, or someone you know, having difficulty deciding that it’s time to make a change? Then you are very welcome to contact me for an informal chat about how I can help you find your “dream job”.
