When you’re feeling stuck in your career

The first thing to do when you’re feeling stuck in your career is to realize there’s no such thing as being stuck in your career.

It’s like being stuck in bed in the morning. You’re making the choice to not get up.

It’s nearly always easier to stay on your current career track. But if you’re feeling discord with the job or industry you’re in now, one thing’s for sure: you’re likely to be even less happy there in the long run.

So, what do you do when you’re stuck? Do you stay with the work you know but don’t enjoy? Do you take steps in a new direction that could make you happier? What if it doesn’t work out? That risk can be a big deterrent.

When you’re faced with these two choices, it’s very hard to make a change — yet it’s difficult to stay where you are and persevere.

Here at Mintful, we help people find happiness at work. We truly believe the world can be a better place when more people are happy in their career choices. I would not tell you to quit your job or leave the industry you’re in right now. But you can take hope in the fact that you don’t have to be stuck there forever. Here’s a basic framework you can use.

What you want to do is restore the balance between your two choices. Take some time to think things through systematically. Get to know what you really need and reduce the risk of making a change.

Step 1: As you go about your current work, keep track of what you enjoy the most and what makes you unhappy.

Step 2: Start to pull those notes together into a job description that includes only the things that make you happy.

Step 3: Go find that dream job. Don’t settle. An employer out there is looking for someone just like you.

Bonus: Realize that it’s okay to be you. Someone else will eventually take over the miserable job you have now. It might even be their dream job. But it’s okay that it’s not yours.

That’s it… Now you’re not stuck anymore because you have two new choices: stay on the career track you’re on — or make a happy professional future more certain by laying the groundwork now.

Which will you choose?