What was the most difficult moment of your life? Was it not being able to reach a career milestone or not being able to accomplish a particular goal? If so, did you notice this cycle of never achieving as much as you want to constantly repeating itself?
When we feel like we can’t make progress on our goals, we often feel stuck in life. We may think that we’ll never advance. And when we turn back to retrace our steps and start over, we begin to wonder whether or not going back to the beginning is worth our time.
This thought process can happen in many areas of our lives, but it’s especially noticeable in our career paths. When we fall short of our career goals, we may feel as if we landed in quicksand, unsure of how to pull ourselves out. We think of what we “should have done” to get ahead instead of focusing on how our past accomplishments brought us to where we are. We ask ourselves why we never feel like our work fulfills us, but we don’t yet know how to make our current positions feel worth our time.
Often, when we feel stuck in our careers, others ask us why we wait to make changes.
They encourage us to take the initiative and fight for what we want. They make the process of getting “unstuck” sound so simple — but it’s more complex than they think.
The reason making these changes is so difficult for many of us is that we face mental roadblocks. Even if we can ask for a raise or apply for a promotion, our minds often tell us that we can’t achieve our goals (even if that’s not true at all). We also have to consider other constraints, like money, time, effort, and mental and physical health. We may need to sacrifice some of our resources if we want our dreams to come true, and that could cause us to wonder whether or not the results will be worth the cost.
But sometimes, we also need to consider that other paths will lead us to our goals too.
We often have many choices in front of us, especially in our careers. We don’t have to stick to our original plans, even if they feel like the most convenient option right now. The beauty of life is that we have plenty of opportunities to change our life’s direction, and some of those chances will help move us closer to our goals in ways that we never expected.
If we want to start new careers, it’s important to remember that we have plenty of options, and we can find the best way to change our paths. If our current positions aren’t what we originally envisioned, that’s OK — we might find happiness in jobs we never thought we wanted. We simply have to be willing to try. And if that new plan doesn’t work out, we can find the right time to move forward with something else. After all, taking chances and learning about ourselves is more fulfilling than confining ourselves in boxes.
So when everything seems to be so uncertain, remember that you’ll always find new paths full of wonderful, new opportunities. Don’t let anyone else’s words discourage you from taking chances and discovering your full potential. After all, chasing these opportunities will help you succeed in your career — and in life.
Featured Photo by DocuSign on Unsplash.
