There comes a time in life when change is inevitable and it becomes time for a career change. Sometimes that ‘time’ is not as obvious as it could be. Looking out for signs and putting them together ‘piece by piece’ could help you identify the signs in your life that you are ready for a change. Please don’t ignore the red flags, instead…embrace them as they try to present to you the possibility for your next chapter! Here are 7 Red Flags that it’s time to start a business in order to achieve a career change.
Your motivation dwindles.
You’ve stopped waking up bright-eyed, and being on time for work seems like more of a suggestion than an actual rule. That extra zeal you had to improve the workplace disappears, and you’re no longer jotting ideas onto sticky notes at a pace you can hardly keep up with. Instead of feeling a productive, healthy sense of stress, you feel no urgency to complete your tasks. If you’re more motivated to schedule how and when you’ll use the sick days you have left than you are to schedule brainstorming sessions and content ideas, Houston, there’s a problem.
When you are at work, you can’t focus.
This happens to many people who stop finding their work challenging. After a while, the work becomes part of a mundane task routine, and it ceases to stimulate the mind. Once that happens, it’s harder to focus because you’re bored. More often than not, boredom sets in for employees whose supervisors fail to challenge them in new ways or point them in a professional growth direction. The result? A lot of staring at the clock wishing the hours would go by faster.
You spend more time daydreaming and job hunting than you do working.
Duh! Aside from being disrespectful to the person who’s signing off on your paycheck, it shows that you’re so checked out from your job that you’re looking for an immediate exit. If you’re so far removed from your current job that you’re actively looking for another, you know it’s time to go.
Despite being bored all day, you’re exhausted when you leave work.
The body seems to say what the mind can’t yet admit, especially when it comes to life’s sensitive factors (employment, relationships, etc.). Staying at a job you’ve checked out of is draining because all of your energy gets sucked into your dissatisfaction throughout the day. While all jobs certainly have their energy demands, a rewarding and satisfying job should leave you feeling accomplished and capable at the end of the day. If you love being outdoors, playing sports, or exercising, but find yourself only wanting to flop onto a couch at the end of the day, your work-life balance is out of whack.
Your attitude outside of work changes.
Many people who are long overdue for a career move find themselves irritable and pessimistic, especially if there’s another person involved. When you come home, are you happy to share details of your day with your partner or a friend? Do you engage in conversation with them to see how their day went, too? Are you optimistic about the evening to follow your workday and confidence you’ll be recharged by the next morning? If you answered no to these questions without hesitating, your personal relationships could be suffering as much as your own happiness.
Career envy has become a problem for you.
Competition is a natural part of the human experience. It’s fair to feel occasional, “dang, I wish I did that for a living” when reading the blog of someone who’s a professional traveler or something. But if you can’t celebrate a friend’s promotion or congratulate a colleague who’s taking a position in another city without feeling jealous, it might be because it’s time for a career change for yourself. Allow yourself to have the confidence and contentment within your position that you deserve and move towards a job that fulfills that sentiment if you don’t already have one.
You’re no longer able to see the silver lining.
The ability to remain hopeful and positive in the face of stress and the everyday employment grind is far more important than it’s made out to be. If you’ve gotten to a point where you can excessively bad mouth your supervisors or place of employment without flinching, then it’s likely time for a career move. The deterioration of respect for your employer and the absence of gratitude for the position you hold can lead to burned bridges and wasted opportunities.
Sounds like you…What now?
If these signs sound a whole lot like your work week, then it’s time for an audit. Relationships, family, work, leisure time, and start identifying where you get joy. If the source of your strife truly is your career, determine why. Do you like the work you do but hate the place you do it? Does the commute make you want to pull your hair out? Is there an executive/manager who makes you dread going into the office? If it’s reconcilable, fix it. If not, then it may be time for a career change and your journey may start here. Could a franchise be one of the options? Learn more about finding a franchise with this article. Call (949)900-0588 or connect online to learn more.
If red flags are showing up everywhere for you, then maybe it’s time to start a biz. Let’s take your first step together!
Scott Diener - MBA, CFC
