Help! I am stuck in my career!

Many tears ago I was living and working in a nice Mediterranean  country. I initially liked the work and even if it was a demanding work both emotionally and physically. We all loved going to work because we were a great team, we travelled to the  field to work with people in need and even if we worked many weekends, it was ok because we always had some time for fun.

After a while though, the work became mundane and I became really exhausted. I decided I needed a change.  Whilst I was sorry to leave a great team, I knew I needed to move ahead in my career and life and I could. As an aid worker, the needs in the field were great, my skills were in demand so a new assignment was quickly offered. I was in my late twenties and what I wanted from my work was different from my colleague Katia ( not her real name). This big hearted and small postured lady confined me with her dilemma and frustration. In spite of her great kindness and professionalism, she was deeply uninspired and unmotivated at work. It is not that she did not like it, quite the opposite. But there was no sense of a challenge, no development, no inspiration, no vision of advancement anywhere until her retirement a good 7-10 years down the line and not enough demand for her contribution  which she was ready to give. The feeling of being stuck was prevalent. Katia was in her early 50s with two young adult sons that still needed a few more years to be fully launched into their professional lives. Katia was at loss. She found it intolerably difficult to be doing the same mundane job every day, yet afraid to speak up and risk losing her position, good team and regular sources of income to provide for herself and for her family. I was also  at a loss but for advice. After all, “the follow your passion and heart “ advice would be quite misplaced and would rather sound like asking her to jump off the cliff. So, what to do? Back then, all I could offer was empathy and a listening ear. 17 years down the line, my own previous  experience of being stuck for years before becoming a coach and a comprehensive coaching training opened my options and perspectives. So, what to do when you feel stuck at work?

• 1st establish how exhausted you are? Far too many professionals think about quitting because they are way too exhausted, have no headspace  to think clearly or are even on a verge of a burnout. No intelligent and sustainable  decision can come from that  state of a mind. Get some rest or even time out if you can. 

• Assess your situation thoroughly and if feasible have a discussion about this with someone trustworthy in your team. Ideally a HR person or maybe your supervisor, but even a friendly chat can put a different perspective to your feeling of being stuck. Sometimes the possibilities are not known to us and we assume there are no options to adjust your job or maybe even change for something else. 

• Think  what are the skills and capacities that you have and really want put into better use and service. Any good HR professional would jump at the opportunity to make a better use of the employee’s skills and interest and make an employee happier in the job. And by that get a better productivity. 

• Identify what  activities drain you and you feel that they are not the best use of  your time and capacities. Often less is more and adjustment in this regard can surprisingly lift your motivation. 

• What have you been longing to improve or learn for a long time? If it this a competence that can be useful for your employer, suggest an investment in learning this skills that you can then apply in your function. 

If all the above though seems too little and too late, you might be in for a more comprehensive change needing deeper work, examining your values, motivators, life purpose, different tendencies, patterns and a longer term accompaniment to support your transition into a new job or maybe even a career. 

Whatever you do, don’t stand in the same spot fearing people’s reaction. Talking and exchanging with a trustworthy person doesn’t immediately mean jumping off the cliff. We often underestimate how much more energetic and fulfilled  we feel once we finally do what drives us. I know. I have been there too!