How to recognise and accept you are unhappy in your career — and what to do next
You might think this is an easy one. Yet, recognising and accepting we are unhappy our lives or careers is one of the things we struggle with the most. The resistance we have to feeling a negative emotion, and also accepting when it might be pointing to something true, is one of the most powerful protective mechanisms we have.
Let me make this real for you: you are reading this at 11 am on a weekday because your work is boring, because you have nothing to do or maybe you have so much to do you already feel overwhelmed. So instead, you are reading this.
On some level, you know your work is not what you want. You recognise that. But then you tell yourself you are lucky to have a job in this tough market. Or that you’ve already been at this for 5 years and the promotion is coming this year. Or that you just got a pay rise after finishing your MBA so you should be happy. You tell yourself your family needs you to keep doing what you’re doing even if you’re not happy. So you may recognise you are unhappy- but you don’t accept it. You do everything to reject it being real.
This is perfectly normal. Your protective mechanisms are doing their job of keeping you away from any risk. From feeling any discomfort or fear. From doing anything.
In doing so, they also keep you from being happy.
If you recognised that you were unhappy with your career and accepted all the thoughts and feelings that come with that, the situation could be completely different.
You’d experience discomfort and fear, yes. But you would also recognise and accept that something else is possible for you, that unhappiness is not the default state you want in your life.
This is an important first step.
You are making room for another possibility: that you can be happy in your career even if you don’t yet know how. Or what to do. That work should not be a burden. Working hard should not be the default. That work can fulfill you and make you happy.
Can you imagine that? Do you think that is possible for you? What do you think is possible for you from this place? Dream big.
I think it is.
If you can recognise and accept that you are unhappy in your career now, let’s talk and I will show you the next steps.
Here’s what we’ll do during the call:
1. Create a crystal clear picture of the work you want — I’m going to help you uncover with incredible clarity what you want in your career and life, and help you define a simple set of 3–5 goals you can focus on to move towards your dream work and life.
2. Identify the biggest 2–3 obstacles you’ll need to overcome to get there, so that you can be focusing on closing the gaps that keep you stuck in a job you don’t like.
3. Leave the session re-energised, knowing exactly how to shift to a career that excites you and fulfills your aspirations (even if you feel like you’ve tried everything and nothing else has really stuck).
