How to understand why you are unhappy at work and how to make a career change
Posted on January 11, 2021 by Fulvia Sechi, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
In this short article, I’ll show you a way to figure out the reasons behind your job dissatisfactions and how to choose a career which makes you happy
If you are unhappy in your job, you may be tempted to focus mainly on reasons such as “I hate my boss”, “this is the wrong career”, “I am underpaid” and so on, complaining about the office environment, clients, colleagues and much more.
What I have often seen working with my clients, is that the underlying reasons why your job is bringing you down is that the outside world does not match your internal rules. In other words, your work values are not aligned with the values of the company or your career.
So, the first thing I suggest to my clients is to identify them.
BUT WHAT ARE THE VALUES AND HOW ARE THEY RELATED TO CAREER?
Work values are the fundamental principles, the beliefs linked to your profession. To give you an example, these can be helping others, autonomy, prestige, economic stability, money, creativity, time for family and friends, travel etc… the list is quite long and very personal as what is important to you is not necessarily important to another person.
When your value system aligns with your work, the benefits are considerable: you feel truly motivated, you can make sense of your choices, you can do better and allow yourself to live with serenity and consistency. In two words: be happier.
HOW CAN YOU IDENTIFY THEM?
If you have difficulty identifying them, I’ll give you this sort of light version (compared to the work you do in a coaching session). It will still be useful for you to do some thinking.
OK, now relax, clear your mind of other thoughts and try to answer these questions. When doing so, be honest with yourself as nobody is judging you. Values are right and perfect as they are felt by each of us.
- What kind of work would I want to do if I were in an ideal world?
- What kind of relationship would I like to have with my boss and colleagues?
- Why do I do this job and what is important to me in this role?
- What would have to happen to get me out of here?
- What would make me stay?
Now, write down all the values that you have identified.
Out of these ones, choose 10 that you consider the most important. Done? Great!
Next step: reduce these 10 to 5 and compare them. If you are not sure about which one to choose, take the first one and ask yourself if it is more important than the second, then the third, the fourth and so on until you find the value that replaces the first one because it is more important. Then start again until you find the 5 most important values.
These 5 are your core values, the ones that bring you joy at work. How does that make you feel?
VALUES CONFLICT
If by doing this quick exercise, you have identified a values conflict, then you should consider what to do. Don’t underestimate the importance of values in the workplace, doing so forces you to stay in a job that makes you miserable. What’s for? That would be in case another topic to deep dive with you…
Do not underestimate the importance of values in the workplace, because by doing so you are forcing yourself to stay in a job that makes you unhappy.
Usually, at this point, I spend some time with my clients to work also on life’s values before starting to evaluate their options and in what industry, organization and role these values would be most appropriate.
The values can change with the time, what is a priority for you now, could not be so important within some years. So be sure you update your list and be aware of your feelings.
If you want to work in depth on your values, not only related to your career but also to intimate relationships, personal growth, physical well-being, friendships, etc., drop me a message. We can set a first call and talk about your needs!
