Questioning your career? It’s time to step off the treadmill

Picture the scene: you’ve been working in the same profession for well over a decade, maybe even for the same employer. You intimately know your organisation as well as your role and responsibilities, yet you don’t feel completely satisfied.

You ask yourself, “Is this it?”It doesn’t have to be. I know this scenario well. After 25 years in corporate America and 11 years in doctoral research, I knew it was time for another major mid-career pivot. I now teach others about leadership and management; and my own experiences influence my work, which focuses on mid-life development.

It can be difficult for anyone to break away from their career – no matter what your tenure or position. There are real benefits to analysing your desire for change and recognising what is driving you towards that change.

Of course, this is easily said. Easily written. When faced with competing pressures, like family, relationships, finances, and a commitment to your employer, it becomes clear that a career change brings high levels of risk. How do you know if you’re making the right choice?

As you well know, there is no “right time” and there is no complete assurance you are making the right choice when you make a career change.

What can’t be underestimated is the importance of reflecting on your life and work, and on how best to move towards what you want before acting upon that change. My own research has focused on the intersection of mid-life development and understanding the catalysts for such change. This has led me to develop a model comprising five distinct stages people go through to reach an authentic life and a new beginning for joyful work.

Stage 1: The “Treadmill”

Many people accept one of the first careers offered to them in their 20s, and they end up staying for many years. The problem here is that this approach is often neither targeted nor strategic. Fifty per cent of graduates will take a job outside their field of study, with 25 per cent not finding a job in the first year following their graduation. By the time they reach their early 30s there is a need for them to “run fast” in their roles, because they have personal and financial responsibilities to uphold. There is a feeling of wanting to progress up the career ladder, but the higher we get, the further it may be from what we truly want to achieve.

Stage 2: Internal and External Triggers

At some point along the journey, something happens to make us temporarily fall off the treadmill: a relationship, a financial or health issue, even a lay-off. From the second you begin to question the meaning of your work, it becomes impossible to return to the treadmill. It’s then essential to progress to stage three.

Stage 3: Reflection, Self-Awareness and Self-Care

This stage is for reflection, reconsidering what you want, and mapping out the steps that will get you to where you want to be. During this reflective stage, you must reinforce your choices within your new plan, both formally and informally, by networking and gathering information about the new career you’d like to have. Once reflection has been achieved, we can progress to stage four.

Stage 4: Change

This stage is challenging because most of us already have commitments. This is often where a flexible approach to a career change comes in. Solutions such as online or part-time learning can accommodate these commitments, and also provide an avenue for change, as well as provide a supportive community of individuals who may be facing similar experiences and challenges.

At this stage, selfishness plays an important role. Make sure to turn your attention away from proving yourself in your existing career, and instead, make yourself happy.

Stage 5: New Beginning

Change enables a new beginning. Now, you finally understand why you’re doing what you do. Your life feels authentic and is filled with meaning and purpose; above all, this stage brings real happiness.

Reaching this stage relies on acting on your newly conceived plans and aspirations to make them a reality. If you don’t, you move back to the treadmill stage.

Change has the potential to be the catalyst for true happiness. Many people want to make changes in their life to feel fulfilled. This might be a career change, something that requires dedication as well as further education to help you acquire new skills and knowledge. Making a career change can be the key to greater satisfaction, which can lead to deeper satisfaction in other areas of life.

Craig Nathanson is a world-renowned leadership expert and a faculty member at the University of Roehampton, London Online. He is a sought-after lecturer, motivational speaker, coach and organisational consultant, and is the author of five books on various aspects of management and leadership.