istock.com/AndreyPopovAs an advisor, I have met many people who I knew for a fact were in the wrong job. A good example would be a young 25-year-old woman who was a banker and going for her business degree. She told me she hated her job.
I simply asked her two questions then. Why is she on the job and why is she going for a business degree.
Her answer was enlightening. She started out after high school getting a job as a teller in the bank. She then over time was promoted to a teller supervisor then to a banker.
She figured that because she is now a banker, she might as well get her business degree. She hated both her job and that degree pursuit. I helped her redirect her career and her degree pursuits to that which she was absolutely excited and well suited for.
So how do you know you are in the wrong job?
It just happened
Just like the young lady in my example did you just happen to morph into your position without any real thought or planning? You did not take the time to create your life by design and just took whatever job you could at the time. So 10 years later, you are still in this job or career and you are not even sure how you even ended up there.
You are not motivated
The current job to you does not motivate you. You’re in the wrong job simply because you do not look forward to starting your work week. You do only as much as you can to not get fired.
It is mechanical to you.
The last great idea you had about your job was 5 years ago when you gave a suggestion to your employer. I’m pretty sure you did not plan your career this way.
The lack of motivation in your job is quite possibly having a mental roadblock of being stuck in a rut. You know you need to earn money, but not sure what else to do. So you stick it out, even though this is your one and only life.
You are feeling overwhelmed most of the time
Life was meant to be enjoyed. It was meant to experience all the great things and adventures that this wonderful planet has to offer. However, you do not seem to experience any of that most of the time. You go to work constantly feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work that never seems to be finished.
You feel pulled in so many directions. Going to work and feeling stressed out is part of your weekly life.
Was life meant to be lived this way? We do not think it should be. Overwhelmed and being stresses should be considered forms of insanity, but the herd of society considers it normal.
You may be in the wrong job if you are constantly overwhelmed and stress in your job. Have you ever heard of tension headaches? I used to get that myself until I figured out it’s my job that’s doing it to me.
Your passion lies elsewhere
As you reflect on your life, you might consider that your creativity is your hobby or some other passion. You knew as a child before about 10 years of age you could be anything you set your mind to. You were creative, adventurous and full of dreams for your future life.
Somewhere along the line, your creativity about your life faded away into the distant past. You seem to only be passionate about other things that you enjoy. You also think about starting a business in something else that excites you.
You dream about it. However, you never act on it because you are in a job you hate and you have bills to pay and a family to support. So you think why bother? I guess being in the wrong job doesn’t matter to you?
You look forward to retiring
Now this one is not intuitively obvious because everyone retires from their job, right? Well, that is the herd mentality. That is what we have been conditioned to think. That is what advisors tell you as well.
But it is all wrong.
Why do people think that they can retire and do what they really want to do in life, their passion?
They work forty years of their lives in a job or career they hate, so they can live twenty years maybe doing something they enjoy. This is not sane.
Why would you quit doing something you thoroughly enjoy? You would not. So looking forward to retirement so you can quit your job is possible an indication that you are in the wrong job.
