3 Very Real Reasons You Should Make A Career Shift

For many individuals, there will come a point where their current career fails to satisfy their needs and wants. You may find yourself in this predicament. But, your fears of causing serious financial and lifestyle disruption is stopping you. There are many who fear moving directions, and you know what happens? They continue to work in a field that they no longer hold passion for and it slowly chips away at their soul.

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3 Reasons You Should Make A Career Shift

The signs will become apparent in time; it’s your choice to act on them that will allow you to move forward into a career that matches your desired lifestyle. Here are three reasons you should make a career shift:

1. You’re Underappreciated And Overworked

You provide a service to your company that makes them money; without you they can’t operate. This gives them no right to belittle your commitment and overwork you to the point of failure. They may want to cut corners and costs by loading additional work on you rather than hiring another to take over, but you shouldn’t have to deal with this, especially if you have the option to make a shift. Things to keep in mind:

• If your boss (or the company) begins pushing you beyond your moral boundaries
• If the amount of work is making you physically sick
• If you’re not being paid for the extra work
• If they’re doing bait-and-switch (generally with promotions) and never delivering

Businesses launch each and every day; even in a shaky economy you will have the ability to find a new career if you have worked on building your skills. Sure, the new position may not pay as much at the last but at least you’re striving for a new goal with less stress and more satisfaction. Choose the work that makes you happy, brings success, and makes you proud.

2. You Could Miss Your True Calling

Comfort is the path to stagnation; it’s when you come to a crawl (or full stop) that you no longer progress in your career because there is little to no incentive to learn new skills or put them to the test. This is a possible outcome for ANYONE no matter how small the role or how powerful the position. Take Yank Barry, for example. Barry got his start in the music industry, being part of the group The Kinsgmen and doing other projects, found his way into becoming the owner of a very successful soy product, and has teamed up with Muhammad Ali to create a remarkable charity; he’s even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 and 2013. Anyone in this type of situation would have been tempted to stay in place because it showed success but to people like Barry, that understand that you have to always move forward, it was clear that there was something more out there – a true calling. The true calling that you seek can be any type of interest; it could be a beloved hobby, branch-off of an existing skill, or something completely opposite which you’ve always found intriguing. The point is that we change (a lot) with each passing year and if we stick to what we do then we’ll never know what it could have been.

3. You’ve Come To Realize It’s A Dying Industry

Technology has placed the nail in the coffin for many industries and society is the hammer that is pounding it in. Industries like:

• Physical movie rentals
• Record stores
• Wired communications
• Appliance repair
• Newspaper publishing

That’s not to say that we won’t see them stick around in some form or another but everything is changing at such a rapid rate that many individuals are being blind-sided by these dynamic changes to the point where they are left without a job thanks to the dying industry. When you realize that there are technologies that are going to replace your work it’s time to consider going on the next leg of the journey. Robotics development and information automation have already brought industries down in flames and it will continue to be the case as long as these technologies advance. Likewise, a growing demand for instant satisfaction and delivery by consumers has reshaped how we do business. The time to make the shift is the moment you realize you can be replaced; get the jump on others bailing from the industry by developing your skills to the fullest and finding ways to diverge from the work. Your choice to change your career may be met with resistance from within; everything about your decision will have your mind screaming to go back because it’s trying to convince you that it won’t work out but more often than not… it does. A shift in a career will happen for those that truly want to make it happen and no amount of mental blocks will stop the progress. Keep an eye out for the clear signs because they’re calling to you; missing them could be one of your biggest mistakes.

Want to learn more? Here are some related articles:

• 15 Questions To Ask Before Making A Career Change
• 5 Signs It’s Time For Career Change
• 5 Tips For Planning A Career Change

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