Written by Dr. Rachel Beanland, Physician Coach
Rachel Beanland, MD understands the complexities of finding purpose and meaning in life. She is the founder of Resilience Physician Coaching, supporting doctors to create unique career paths using mindfulness and positive psychology.
Feeling stuck in your career can be challenging, especially after investing a significant amount of time to reach your current position. Many jobs require years of training and experience to attain a certain level of success. However, the reality of a career often doesn't align with how it appears on paper. If you feel you should be happier than you currently are, exploring the reasons behind those feelings may be helpful.
If you dream about an alternate path and wonder whether the grass is greener elsewhere, it's important to recognize that such thoughts can sometimes distract you from reality. While it can be enjoyable to let your mind wander, frequent thoughts about another passion may indicate that it’s time to consider a different direction.
Every job has its ups and downs, there will be times when you feel more challenged and times when work brings you joy. However, if you’re questioning whether your job is the right fit, it might be time to assess your situation. Acknowledging your current circumstances is crucial, and understanding why you may need to take a different path can help guide your next steps. The first step is identifying whether you are experiencing signs that a change is needed.
Let’s explore some emotions and signs that may suggest it’s time to reflect on your career path, allowing you to move forward mindfully.
Focusing more on negatives than positives
Do you often find yourself fixated on the negatives in your career, consistently highlighting the difficulties and challenges? You may notice this pattern when you only discuss the unfavorable aspects of your job when asked about it. It’s common to complain about your work, the work environment, and your coworkers in both professional settings and personal conversations. You may feel you've lost sight of the positive aspects you once valued at the beginning of your career.
It's easy for our minds to get trapped in this cycle, emphasizing what’s going wrong. If you find yourself identifying more negatives than positives, it might be time to explore the reasons behind this mindset. Take a moment to reflect on how you describe your job. Consider whether your language leans more toward the negative. Use this reflection as a guide to help you identify the emotions and thoughts you want to cultivate regarding your career as you move forward.
Rediscovering joy in your career
Losing the joy in your work can create a sense of detachment, leaving you to wonder what initially attracted you to your role. You may find it difficult to remember the parts of your job that once felt satisfying and rewarding. This can lead to a feeling that you are not your true self in the workplace and that you are no longer interested in what is happening around you.
Take a moment to reflect on the last time you felt genuinely excited to go to work or came home eager to share your day's experiences with others. While it’s true that most jobs don’t feel joyful every day, consider the moments of joy you once experienced. Ask yourself what made those moments special, was it the people, the environment, the tasks, or the interactions? This reflection can help you identify what might be missing from your current work experience. Think about how you would describe your best work self, and use this vision to guide you towards a more fulfilling career.
Increasing emotions of resentment
Resentment is a negative emotion that can build up over time. Do you feel resentment towards your colleagues or clients? This feeling often arises from a lack of appreciation for your work and can strongly indicate that something in your environment does not align with your values.
When your job no longer feels in sync with your core beliefs, it can lead to a deep sense of discomfort. This misalignment could be related to the systems you work within, the people you interact with, or the tasks you must complete daily. If any of these aspects are causing you to feel resentful, consider making changes to help you feel more aligned with your work.
Reflect on your feelings towards your colleagues or clients at the end of each workday. Were there any moments when you felt annoyed, angry, or disappointed? Also, think back to times when these negative emotions were absent. What was different during those days? What has changed? Use this reflection to craft a non-negotiable list based on your core values so your next steps align with them.
Related: Living into Our Values
No longer feeling like you belong
Feeling out of place, like a square peg in a round hole, is a powerful analogy for understanding your feelings in your career. If you often find yourself trying to figure out how you fit in and feeling different from everyone else, you may wonder why others seem to find it easier to balance and enjoy their work while progressing in their careers.
Do you feel you belong elsewhere but are unsure where that might be? Take a moment to reflect on your sense of belonging. Identify where you feel most like yourself, where you can express your needs, desires, and emotions comfortably and confidently.
Think about the moments when you have felt comfortable in your career, when your thoughts were valued and sought out, and when you felt you contributed to a bigger picture. Recognizing these experiences can help you understand how to find your place in your career and, crucially, recognize if where you are right now is not the right place for you.
Related: Breaking free: Silencing the inner critic and unleashing your true potential in career and life.
Losing your confidence
Doubting your abilities and feeling increasingly less confident can be challenging. Over time, you may start to think you are no longer performing your job to the best of your ability. If you notice a lack of enjoyment in your work, it can lead to decreased confidence and lower self-esteem.
Take a moment to reflect on how comfortable you feel in your job. Are there aspects of your role you dread or tasks that make you feel uncertain about your performance? When was the last time you received positive feedback that you genuinely felt was deserved? Did you believe you deserved it?
Find the positive feedback you have received, and consider how other people describe you. Use their words and phrases as a reminder of the skills and qualities you have to offer.
Lack of expansion
It may be a sign of stagnation in your career if you no longer feel challenged or want to expand your knowledge. Perhaps, at the beginning of your journey, you experienced a steep learning curve filled with new challenges, exams, and certifications that led to progression and recognition. However, if that peak has passed, you might no longer be learning anything in your role. What was once exciting may now feel dull and mundane.
This loss of challenge can be accompanied by a lack of joy and a decrease in self-esteem, leading to feelings of detachment from your job's outcomes. Take a moment to reflect on the last time you felt eager to learn more or acquire new skills. Consider exploring skills in a different direction. If there is a new area you would like to develop, spend some time researching how you could pursue it. Pay attention to your emotions and thoughts during this exploration, and notice how positive and joyful it can make you feel.
Loss of energy
Low energy levels can leave you with little to share with the world outside of work. If you are expending all your energy at work, you may have very little left for yourself or others. This can signify that your job is encroaching on personal boundaries vital for maintaining your health and well-being.
These feelings can also manifest as physical and emotional symptoms, such as struggling to get out of bed on weekends, losing interest in socializing with friends, or avoiding family events. When work starts to impact your physical and emotional health, it may indicate that something needs to change. This change might not necessarily involve switching to a new career but rather finding a different way of working that better supports your health and well-being. You might also be neglecting healthy practices that you know can enhance your positivity and happiness.
Making a change will require energy and commitment, so it’s key that you find ways to prioritize your health and well-being through your career transition. Take some time to reflect on the things you want to bring more of into your life. Consider why you are not finding the time or space to dedicate energy to these practices. Imagine your ideal day, noting all the activities you would love to spend time on. Use this vision as a reminder when you start to take your next steps toward a fulfilling career.
Change can be challenging, and you might discover that a new career direction is right for you. Alternatively, you may adjust your career to allow more time to pursue your passions or develop new interests. Not everyone needs to switch careers entirely; you might consider reducing your hours, finding a more flexible path that gives you greater control over your time, creating a second income stream to supplement your existing work, or contributing your skills and expertise to a volunteer cause alongside your professional life.
The beauty of life is that we are all unique and can create paths that reflect our aspirations. If you are contemplating a career change, the key is to identify where you are right now, reflect on what you want to bring more of into your life, and mindfully use these as a compass to move forward. Carve out space and time where you can do your best thinking about what you want your career to look like, and find the people who can support you through this change.
If you are wondering whether a career change is the right step for you and would like support in making that decision, you can book a discovery call with me. Together, we can explore how coaching can help you explore your passions, create more flexibility, and gain greater control over your time so you can live your best life.
Read more from Dr. Rachel Beanland
Dr. Rachel Beanland, Physician Coach
Rachel Beanland, MD, is an accomplished public health doctor, physician coach, and mindfulness meditation teacher. Having successfully created her own flexible career so she can live a value-driven life, she has a strong affinity for evidence-based techniques to improve well-being and develop resilience. She is the founder of Resilience Physician Coaching, which supports doctors in mindfully creating unique and authentic career paths. Her mission is to help doctors do medicine differently and make a bigger impact in the world.
