Signs You Aren’t In Love With Your Career Path

This post highlights a few signs of why you aren’t in love with your career path. It doesn’t bring you joy. It doesn’t excite you. You feel distracted and dread Mondays. This doesn’t have to be reality. 

Here are 8 reasons why you shouldn’t settle for a career path you don’t love. 

ONE: It can be preventing self-development

Looking at your career and realizing that you are not really having any kind of positive impact on the world around you is really a tough thought. Sitting at your desk day after day and the only thing on your mind is how much you could do with the time wasted at your current job.

So why not try and find something with a little bit more value to it.

There are many opportunities out there in the world where you could use your skills to positively impact the world out there.
All that is required from you is to just be willing to go out and look for them. 

TWO: It can be a roadblock for a potential new opportunity

One thing that keeps most people from getting out there and being the best version of themselves is the risk factor of leaving a “secure job”. In today’s times we all work for ourselves – in the old days jobs were very secure and were the one thing that made them who they are. Today there are so many opportunities for individuals out there and you do not need to only chase someone else’s dreams just to have an income.

The worst thing that could happen if you decide to take the risk to follow your ideas is that you might realize that you are not as crazy about the topic enough to follow through with it all the way. 

But that is no disaster – it’s just a learning curve.

After all – how broke can you get? 

Running out of money is about the worst. There are many stories of people achieving success in who they are that had no money to even begin with. 

It only allows you to learn and grow in the process.

THREE: Not living out a desirable career could be sending mixed messages to those looking up to you

You know the saying – “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch”? 

Well, that is mostly used in a teamwork context and so the question should be – Are you being the bad apple spoiling the whole bunch due to your unhappiness at work, at home or even in public? 

There is also a phrase where someone said that there is always at least one person that looks up to you no matter who you are and what you do.

Your decision and the way you handle life is seen by others whether you know it or not. Be the change you want to see and look up to so others can follow.

FOUR: Settling tells your brain you aren’t capable of more, this could cause internal mindful damage

The saddest part of settling is that people end up accepting the path of unhappiness and lose their dreams and goals that they have for someone else’s dreams and goals that they do not share any interest or passion for.

You become a robot instead of an inventor. 

You become a dam instead of a river. 

You become an island instead of a traveler.

Don’t let your mind be trapped and rather free it from the idea of settling.

FIVE: Life is too short.

Life is usually misunderstood as a linear way – finish school, start a career, climb the corporate ladder, but most of us that are older are realizing that life does not quite work like that. Life has its unexpected turns, twists and curves throughout our paths trying to achieve our goals – especially the long term goals.

Our goals and visions will change throughout our lives. And that is okay! Each and every person goes through a stage of redefining themselves and where they are in their career throughout different stages in life.

SIX: Today having a career you desire is more do-able than ever before.

Understandably in the older days any job was seen as successful and stability as it was more secure and promising. But in today’s day and age, it is definitely not. The one thing about today’s time is that there are so many more self-employment opportunities and paths out there. It is becoming a world of entrepreneurs.

SEVEN: You aren’t being the best version of yourself for others

“Staying in a job you don’t like is disrespectful to yourself, and your loved ones.”

- Suze Orman

The following are examples of why it is important to realize that you are unhappy and why you should not allow yourself to settles for a career path you don’t love:

• Being in a job you hate causes chronic stress — and stress-related health consequences.
• A job you don’t like will affect mental health, leading to depression and anxiety.
• A job you hate kills confidence and self-esteem.
• Studies link unhappiness at work with unhappiness at home.
• While stuck at a job you hate, you hold yourself back from doing what you really want to do.

It is important to analyze your daily life and see if you fall under these categories and start making a decision to change. 

The good news? If you do feel stuck at a job that you do not love, it’s never too late to analyze what success means to you and follow that.

EIGHT: If you don’t love your current career, you won’t want to advance towards a promotion, thus hindering you financially

Growth is what everyone wants. No matter how much you get paid, you always want to be climbing and feeling like you’re making a difference. But when you do not love your current career, then advancing from your position is the last thing you want. 

It destroys your motivation to grow.

Where do you see yourself in the future with what you are currently doing?

Challenge yourself  on whether or not you are in love with your career. Does it make you a better person? 

Does it support you and your family? 

Does it develop you?

If not, challenge yourself to explore a career option that you think would. Sit down and make a game plan for a proper pivot. 

Taking The Next Steps For Your Career

If you’re ready to take the next steps toward your career, tune into the Happy CEO Podcast! There we discuss following a career path that you love, what it looks like to be the CEO of your own life and thriving in the online creative space. Tune into the Happy CEO Podcast right here for more career and creative guidance!