My Career Doesn't Fit Anymore!

I often have conversations with my clients about their feeling that they no longer fit their current career, or it doesn’t fit them. Sometimes there is a feeling of bewilderment, of frustration or even anger.

There you are having worked so hard, and probably studied too, and after all this time and effort you find that it doesn’t fulfill you any more. You no longer look forward to going to work, and even when things go well and you achieve your objectives, it is an empty victory.

Why is this? Why do we seemingly grow out of our careers? In the past everyone just chose what they were going to do and did it for life. Nowadays we have far more choice and it is normal to move between companies to advance. The moving between careers is really just the next step, and becoming more acceptable. We take our skills honed in one arena and put them to good use in another.

But there is still the question about why it happens and dealing with the disappointment that it has. When we first choose our career we do so from the person we are in that moment. Our likes, dislikes, desires, beliefs, interests, and outside influences all have a bearing on what we choose. That is unless you are me and after many appointments with the career counsellor at my college he decided I should marry and millionaire - and so I joined a bank! Not the best basis for a career choice and believe me it didn’t last long.

However for a lot of people they made a conscious choice about their career, and now find themselves disinterested and disillusioned. When I hear this I cheer! Why? Because it means that they are growing as a human being. They are moving and changing and learning more about themselves, becoming more in tune with who they are. Often they also find that people they once had a lot in common with now longer feature in their lives. It is all an indication of how we all grow and evolve as we go through life. Things that may have been of interest in the past no longer are, and as those interests change so do career choices.

There are different phases in our working life. This is a good thing. When we first start out we are looking to launch ourselves into the business world. Only later as we see what things are more important to us personally, as we define what our personal values are, do our career desires change too. Often this can involve a feeling of making a contribution in the world. Maybe working for a company with the same values as us, or doing something that touches people directly.

It really doesn’t matter what our choices are as long as they make us feel happy and fulfilled. They need to be an expression of who we are now. So if you are beginning to feel that your job doesn’t fit anymore just know that it is fine. You don’t have to hang in there but can now take all those marvellous skills and your experience and apply it in a area that really does turn you on. You have lots to offer, do so in the right arena for you.