Over the years, I have come across many professionals who claim to outright ‘DISLIKE’ their jobs. However, they still continue doing the jobs that they dislike and live only for the weekends and holidays. If they disliked their jobs enough, then making a right career change decision would be easier. However, life is not black or white and the shades of grey usually trouble us. These professionals are stuck between truly liking and disliking their jobs, making them hesitant about changing their career or job. Try to answer these questions:
Do you often find yourself thinking about other career options but eventually don’t act on them since they don’t seem good enough?
Do you dislike your job but not so much that you decide to leave it?
If this sounds like you, then you are probably stuck in career paralysis. This is an uncomfortable place to be where you can neither make a career change decision nor love your job enough. It leads to an unhappy and dissatisfied feeling about your career. There are many factors that can prevent you from taking action to improve or change your career path like the fear of making a wrong decision, being hopelessly optimistic waiting for a miracle to put things into place, etc.
Meet Tushar…
Tushar is a 35-year-old Marketing Manager from Delhi. He has an MBA degree from a premier institute and has managed to climb the ladder of success on a regular basis. His boss is satisfied with his performance and his colleagues have no problem with him either. He seems like the perfect cog in the wheel.
However, Tushar is not happy. He does not like his job. He faces terrible Monday morning blues and drags himself through to the weekend. He takes 3/4 short vacations every year to get away from the miserable feeling of having to go to work. Every time he comes back from a vacation, he decides to make a career change and starts looking at opportunities. He also shortlists a few jobs but eventually discounts them since they don’t seem perfect either. The net outcome – he stays exactly where he is – living weekend to weekend – vacation to vacation.
Tushar is stuck in Career Paralysis.
Tushar fights career paralysis and makes the right career change decision
A career change decision can have many practical barriers. However, career paralysis is usually more about the psychological and emotional roadblocks than anything else. Today, Tushar has successfully made a career change decision and is happier than ever before.
Here are a couple of tips that you can follow to fight career paralysis:
Think About Crossing The Bridge When You Get There ___
When Tushar was looking at career change opportunities, he invariably found a potential issue with each of them. For example, an IT-focused profile would need him to constantly keep upgrading his knowledge and he might not be able to spend enough time with his family, etc.
While planning is good, over-planning can be dangerous. To be able to cross a bridge you must first get there, right? Also, once you are there, you will figure out a way to cross it.
The first step towards fighting career paralysis is focusing on decisions that you have to make NOW. Ask yourself this question:
Do I really need to make this decision right now?
Be Willing To Learn And Make Mistakes ___
The core reason behind career paralysis is usually the fear of making a wrong decision. If you are willing to make mistakes and learn from them, you will usually opt for the best thing. After all, even if you end up making a career change decision that is not right for you, the valuable experiences and learning you derive are priceless.
Follow The MCQ Solving Methodology
During our student years, most of us would have appeared for competitive exams and answered multiple-choice questions. Each question had four possible answers and we would usually use the process of elimination to strike out the wrong answers and find the right one. Career decisions are similar – keep striking off options that seem wrong and find the most likely solution.
Take Action
Above all, it is important that you replace thinking about a career change with the experience of the change. Talk to a mentor or a coach, research opportunities, network, and make a decision. At the end of the day, you actions can change your thinking, and not the other way around.
At Change Ur Story, we know that career paralysis can lead people to accept a lesser-satisfying career and under-utilizing their potential. Through our Career Coaching Programs, we talk to professionals to understand the reasons why they are feeling stuck and help them make decisions inspired by their intellectual, emotional, and somatic intelligence. A career change decision cannot be made while you are indecisive. Drop us a line today and let’s de-paralyze your career.
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