Resolution Check In: New Year, New Career?
Did you resolve to make a change to your work life this year?
Perhaps more importantly, have you made that resolution in past years, too?
There’s a lot that goes into figuring out what you need to feel meaningful, fulfilled and happy in your work, as well as in taking the steps to make that change. But there’s one thing I see over and over that’s likely holding you back if you’ve been wanting to make a change in your work for a while.
It’s how you’re thinking about risk.
Feeling anxious about the risks involved in making a career pivot is normal and understandable. The unknown feels scary. The known — even when its miserable — feels secure. And your brain is actively working to heighten both those feelings, because one of its main jobs is to keep you safe. Your brain registers *DANGER* when you think of making a change into the unknown, and it starts generating every risk, fear, doubt and worst-case scenario it can to try to get you to stay put.
Fun times, no?
And then there’s a very real question: what if you end up worse off than you are now? Sure, you’re miserable . . . but you’re surviving that. And if you make a good paycheck or have a prestigious job title, that risk feels even bigger. I remember how tightly those golden handcuffs had me shackled to being an attorney — not because I was tied to any kind of luxuries, but because my salary was the one thing I’d experienced in my work that made me happy and had provided some good things. How could I risk losing the only part of my work life that was good? What if I ended up miserable AND broke?
SNL. A long time ago.
But doing a risk analysis based on only half the picture isn’t likely to lead you to the best decision for you. And that’s what most of us tend to do. We laser focus on the risks of leaving our job or career.
But we don’t ask ourselves what’s the risk of staying?
Take a minute and ask yourself that question. What’s the risk if nothing changes for another year . . . 3 years . . . 5 years?
Here are some of the risks people share with me when they think about this question –
losing physical health
losing mental health
years spent being miserable
wasting years investing in the wrong field
missed professional opportunities in a new field
delayed growth and expertise in a new field
missing years of enjoying work and life
delaying other life goals, like marriage or kids, because of burnout
What comes up for you?
If you’ve already spent years clinging to a career you know is the wrong fit, please don’t feel bad about that. The past is the past.
But the future really is full of options and possibilities. And to get past the fears that are keeping you stuck, this is an important question to consider.
And there’s more good news: there are ways you can minimize the risks involved in making a job or career change. A big part of my work with every single career change client is helping them manage those risks. I don’t want you to take a leap based on an idea of what a different job is going to be like — that’s how a lot of us ended up in careers that were a poor fit in the first place! There are concrete strategies that will help you get clear on what’s going to be fulfilling and enjoyable for you — and to make sure it’s going to be as great in real life as it is in your head.
So, if you want this year to be the year that you finally keep that resolution, really thinking about this question is a great first step. When you have some clarity on the risks of not taking action, it’s a lot easier to start moving forward.