Guest post: Author: Artur Meyster
If you’ve been feeling lost at your job or just don’t feel motivated anymore but don’t know what to do, here is some help. These are six signs that will tell you if your career is the source. If you identify even a little with the signs you will read below, you should start thinking about changing to another career.
You Hate Getting Up in the Morning
One of the first signs that you need another career can be that you hate getting up in the morning because it means you have to go to work. It implies a lack of motivation that doesn’t improve no matter what you do. Instead, when you are motivated and passionate about something, you don’t even want to go to sleep because you want to continue doing that thing.
For example, maybe you work as a dealer selling cars. But one of your hobbies is web development, and you spend the whole day wishing you were home to dedicate time to your development projects. It couldn’t be clearer.
You Feel Stuck
If you feel like your job or career is a prison, then that’s a sign that you need a change. You can also start feeling like you are not progressing and that you don’t learn anything new anymore. For all intents and purposes, you are stuck in your personal development. Other people can also feel stuck because they want a more relaxed lifestyle.
If you are the type of person that travels around and makes their own schedule, maybe you didn’t choose the right career. You can make a change to something that allows you the lifestyle you desire. For example, web design allows a pretty flexible schedule where you can work as a freelancer.
You Find Unhealthy Outlets
When you aren’t happy with what you do, it can bring a lot of negative emotions to your life. Some people face these emotions by finding unhealthy outlets like alcohol, food, or drugs. If you feel like you constantly have to go to these sources for comfort, maybe you should change something in your life. Take some time for yourself and try to understand what is making you unhappy. If it is your job or career, you need to make a change.
You Start Feeling Body Burnout
Being unhappy with your career can bring a lot of stress, and stress has a direct impact on your health. High-stress levels can cause muscle tension, fatigue, chest pain, stomach upset, and sleep problems. During long periods, it will add up to the point of your body collapsing, which could mean a serious injury or simply not being able to keep up with the day’s activity.
You Are Always in a Bad Mood
As mentioned, when you are in a career you hate, you are more prone to suffer stress. Another consequence of stress is irritability. You will constantly feel in a bad mood, which will hinder your ability to collaborate with others. It can bring problems with coworkers or your boss. And people will start feeling like they can’t approach you with any issue if you are always in a bad mood.
All these could cause problems that will make you leave a job on a bad note. Even if you decide to change careers, living a job with a good reputation is always important. So, instead of waiting to be fired for your lack of engagement and motivation, take the decision now.
You Don’t Feel Challenged
Finally, the last sign that you need another career is that you don’t feel challenged with your responsibilities. You feel like your company doesn’t take advantage of your strengths, and you spend the day being bored out of your mind. And maybe not all tasks are that boring.
But, can you remember the last time you worked on a challenging project? After all, projects that require our complete attention and skills are the ones that make you feel more rewarded when you complete them.
What to Do?
Now that you went over the signs and you think you can relate to some of them, it is time to make a change. You can start by researching your hobbies to see if you can make a career out of any of them. Find out what you are passionate about and repeat the process. You can also research which careers will give you the lifestyle you want.
Then, you have to plan how you will get the skills and qualifications you need. For example, coding bootcamps is a fast and effective way of starting a tech industry career. You can check out Career Karma and learn more about how they work. You can also go back to university if you have the money and time. The important thing is to make the change and stop being in a career that doesn’t make you happy.
