Considering a Career Change-Should You Stay in Your Current Job?

By: Catherine Trebble

When it comes to considering a change in jobs or careers, there is nothing wrong with staying where you are, as there are many reasons that a job or career change might not be right for you, at least not right now.

There are many outside factors that can cause you to have to stay where you are right now, even if you are unhappy. One reason could be the timing. It could be that you need to get your finances in order first, you need the medical benefits your current job provides and you can't afford to risk losing those benefits for whatever reason, or perhaps you just need more time to get other aspects of your life in order before you think about making a change.

If you have felt unhappy with your job, it could be that you figured out it is due to something or someone in particular and not what you do for a living. Perhaps you feel you are just bored and would like to take on more responsibility. Maybe you have determined that you need more education so that you can transfer into a higher position within the company you are in.

If you have decided you want to work on getting a certain issue resolved instead of leaving your current job, a written plan of action can help motivate you to take the necessary action. If you work for a company, it is very likely that with some discussion with your supervisor or upper management, you can eliminate or minimize the source of your unhappiness. As you will see from the following chapter, a written plan can be beneficial to you no matter what changes you want to make in job or life.

If you find yourself wanting to stay where you are but know you need to make some changes, take the time to brainstorm the various options available to you. This will help you to know how to approach whatever issue it is that needs changing and create a plan of action.

But what if you aren't happy with your job but have to stay where you are for now? Even in a situation such as this, there are still certain steps you can take to make things better for yourself. Although there are many things that you feel are out of your control, we can control our own behavior. So if there is something about your job that you can't fix, look to yourself and see if there is a way you can adjust your own feelings or reactions so that you don't feel your usual negative feelings. Sometimes we can make ourselves feel a whole lot better with just a simple attitude adjustment.

It is also important to give your best. Just because you are unhappy with your current job doesn't mean you should slack off and act like a miserable employee. Instead, take time to think about what you could do better. How can you improve? The simple act of doing your best and applying yourself to everything you do can be very uplifting-really!

When you know you have done a great job at something and are giving your all, it will create a sense of pride within yourself and help you to feel better about yourself. Focusing on what you can do better will also help keep you from thinking about the things you are not happy about at your job.

And of course there's nothing to stop you from continuing to make plans for the future. Just because you have to stay in your current job for now doesn't mean you can't plan to leave at some later time. Creating an exit plan for later on down the line when the timing is better for you will not only keep you motivated and give you something to look forward to, it will keep your mind busy and give you something more positive to think about. It will also give you something to do, even if it's just typing up your plan and creating goals that you will carry out at a later date.

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