Many people dream of changing careers but find that they are held back by the overwhelming emotions involved in the process. Changing jobs can feel incredibly risky, and people have a naturally difficult time thinking clearly when their future is on the line. The good news is that you don’t have to move forward through a fog of confusion, there are ways that you can think about your career systematically and come to see the path forward with clarity. In this article, we will look at three systems you can use to make sense of your career and what steps you need to take to get where you want to be.
Thinking In Stages
Try thinking about your life in terms of different stages. It’s natural to move from one stage to another as time goes on. We start out exploring our options; then we move onto establishing ourselves. Things like going to school to learn skills and working as an intern are all about exploring your options and developing yourself. Eventually, you need to move from the exploratory phase and into the establishment phase, where you work to establish yourself in the field you have chosen.
As yourself whether your job lines up with the phase, you are in with your career. If you’re still early on you should ask yourself whether or not you’re being given chances to explore and try new things to find your place. If you’ve already done plenty of exploring, then you should ask whether or not you are being given opportunities to establish yourself and build on the foundation you’ve already built. Make sure you are in a job that fits your career phase.
Finding A Fit For Your Personality Type
Not every job is right for every person. If you want to flourish, you need to find a job that fits you rather than trying to fit yourself into a job that doesn’t come naturally to you. If you’re the type of person who thrives around other people, then you shouldn’t accept a job as a solitary computer programmer. On the other hand, if you crave solitude, then a career in customer service will just make you more miserable.
Take some time to do some soul searching and figure out what your personality type is. Try not to think about the sort of people you’d like to be and figure what sort of person you are on the deepest level. While people can be flexible in some areas, there are others where we really don’t change much. You don’t want to work in a career that clashes with one or more of your core personality traits.
Looking At Emotional Feedback
As a society, we often look down on emotions, but the truth is that they are some of the most powerful factors at work in our lives. If you truly feel miserable, then there really isn’t any amount of logic and evidence that will change things. Your job might seem like the perfect fit on the surface, but if all sorts of negative emotions are tied up with it, then you’re never going to be truly happy.
Take the time to dig down deep into your emotions. Think about how different situations make you feel and then try and figure out the reason behind the emotions. Emotions are often shaped by things like your work environment and the other people at your job. A job that sounds fantastic may end up being a painful slog due to bad coworkers. Think carefully about what you might need to feel emotionally fulfilled at work.
