Career Transition from Toxic Job: Yes, you can!
Posted on November 29, 2023 by Janet Fisher, MA, ACC, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.
What to do if you are dealing with a toxic work environment and want to make a job change.
What can you do if you are dealing with a toxic work environment? This is such a loaded question because words don’t ever seem to capture how gut wrenching it is, or how helpless you may feel. Often times, it seems like nothing helps, so the first thing we do is complain and vocalize it to family and friends; which initially takes the edge off, but ultimately wears on everyone. Then we must deal with the terrible reality that we can’t stay in this current crisis forever. Something must change and it’s completely overwhelming to know what to do next. You are miserable and know you can’t stay “here” but you don’t know the way out. Horrible!
For me, I dealt with a brutal toxic work environment in a corporate job, then it got worse and worse. It didn’t matter how much self-care I did, I knew it wasn’t sustainable, but the thought of changing didn’t seem like an option. So, I stayed longer and the situation only spiraled.
After a coach helped me, I had a brainstorm that I could help people with this same issue and became so excited about the possibility of doing fulfilling work. There was hope! For the next two years, I lived what I called a double-life. I took life coaching classes evenings and weekends, then started doing practice coaching and suddenly, I was beyond inspired! My “day” job remained difficult, but I had a plan now and knew freedom was in sight. Ironically, my toxic job was funding my newfound passion career. Momentum built with the coaching, and I had enough financial stability with my new career to finally leave my old job behind. What an amazing feeling!
You don’t have to stay in a toxic job forever. There are effective ways to empower yourself to make a career transition with ease once you know it’s time. Remember that your toxic job can fund your new business opportunity. Don’t forget to make a plan for yourself with an outline of some preliminary steps to help you reach your newfound goal(s). Here’s to a happy work life!
