Finding the right career is one of the most difficult things you will ever have to do in your life. It is incredibly hard when we reach the time in our lives to get a job to find something we really want to do. Of course, there are some lucky people out there who know what they want to do from a young age and are set on following that career path throughout their lives… for the rest of us though, it isn’t that simple.
We go through our entire school years being pushed from pillar to post and being pushed into a certain area of work. By the time we get to our first job we are exhausted from trying and we end up resigning ourselves to a mediocre career.
However, a career shouldn’t be a chore. A career is a job which you will spend your whole life doing. Your job will take up most of your time during the week and because if this it should be something you genuinely enjoy doing. Everyone deserves to be happy at work, and if you are happy at work you will be able to make a much bigger impact on the world and your life. Here are some of the signs that you no longer enjoy your career, and that you need to make a change.
You are tired all the time
Although you might think that being tired is simply a sign that you’ve worked pretty hard throughout the week, it can actually be a sign that you hate your job and you need a new career. If you always spend Sunday night working yourself up for work on Monday, this is a bad sign. There should be no lost sleep or dread when you wake up for work in the morning. You should be happy to get out of bed and you should enjoy your job. If you constantly have headaches and your body aches all the time, this is a sign of stress and a sign that your job is no longer healthy for your body or your mind.
It makes you anxious
One of the symptoms of a bad job which might sneak up on you is the fact that you feel less confident at work every day. If you go through your working day feeling nervous and not wanting to have small talk with your coworkers, this is a sign that your career is having an effect on your self-esteem. Feeling shy and I confident in your abilities is a bad sign in your career, and the moment you start to feel like this you should reevaluate what you want in life. Changing your career to something new can be a difficult thing to do, however, it can be a great way to give you back that confidence you are lacking.
You are only there for the money
If you are working your bum off every single day in order to pay your bills and support your family, this is is a sign that you are only in the job for the money. If you hate your job but you still do it anyway, this will soon impact on your happiness and it can strain the relationships that you have with your loved ones. If you need the money so badly, you can still study to become qualified for another career on the side.
For example, there are accredited msw online programs for someone who wants to be a social worker. This means that for a few months you can work extra hard in the evenings to qualify for a job which you want to do. You can apply for the new job when you are still working, and you only have to quit when you are offered a new job. It takes the financial risk out of a career change and allows you to make a better life for yourself and your family without worrying about the money.
You always wanted to be something else
If you always sit at your desk and daydream about being somewhere else, it is a sure sign that you belong somewhere else. If you are always spending time during work looking at your dream job and finding job applications to read through, you need to stop procrastinating and take the leap. Applying for a job you want to do can be the perfect way to see if it is an option for you. And you never know, you could be offered the job of your dreams and start within a month. It is always worth trying because you will never know unless you do.
You’re bored
After working in the same place and doing the same menial tasks every day, it can become boring after a while and you will end up going through the days on autopilot, never really paying attention to the work you are doing. If you end up feeling bored and tired every day you go to work, this is a bad sign and you should start finding another job to do. Working in a place where you are constantly bored isn’t good for you and you will end up becoming unhappy. If you want to be happy in your career you need to do a job which you enjoy and one which brings new challenges for you to solve every single day.
Your passions feel unreachable
One of the horrible side effects of working in a dead end job is the fact that you end up losing sight of your passions and you start forgetting what your passions even were in life. When you have to go to a job you dislike every day, your mental health will waver and after months of working somewhere that you hate you will end up feeling tired and stuck in a rut. Your dreams might feel light years away, and this is the point where you need to put yourself first and get out while you can. There is no job in the world that’s worth giving up your happiness for, so make sure you can go to work every day and say that you are doing what you love.
You are jealous of your friends
If you are talking to your friends and you start to feel jealous of the job they have, this can be a signal that you are no longer happy with your own job and that you need to move on and find something new. If you hear about your friends’ job and are jealous of their workplace culture, the pay and the overall atmosphere, it might be time to move on and either find a new position in the same industry or start fresh and do something completely new.
You don’t care about the company you work for
Most of the time when we are first offered a job, we take pride in the company we work for and we are always eager to come up with great ideas for our boys and to try and make the company more successful. However, when you feel underappreciated at work and you are getting nowhere with your career, you can start to lose interest in the success of the company you work for and you simply go through the motions without wanting to reach that extra mile. However, if you feel like this all the time, there is nothing to stop you making your life better and joining somewhere new. If you no longer have a love for your company, join a new one. Let that excitement and passion take over you once more and start fresh somewhere new and somewhere inspiring.
You dream about leaving
If you often daydream about walking up to your boss and handing in your notice, you need to think about going through with it. Before you jump in and quit right away, you can stay in your job while you look for a new one, and this means you will stay financially secure as you search for a more rewarding career. By the time you do walk up to your boss and hand in your notice, you will be safe in the knowledge that you are able to move on to something new and be happier overall.
You’ve changed
Everyone changes as they get older, but you shouldn’t change to a point where even your friends and family don’t recognize you anymore. If you have become irritable, distant and you aren’t into the same things as you once were, the people you love will start to worry about you. If any of the people closest to you tell you that they’ve noticed a huge change in you, you need to listen to them and do something about it. You should never change to the point where you are unrecognizable, and if you do, you need to change your life and make yourself happy once more. You and everyone you love and care about deserve it.