For many of our coaching clients, experiencing the ‘career blues’ is the reason why they reach out to work with Evolve. Often, they’ve felt the enjoyment they have towards their work decline steadily over time until it gets to a point where they are no longer able to ignore or mask their unhappiness. That’s our cue to step into their corner and help them to better understand the situation, and the way forward.

According to a study by CV Library 76% of professionals in the UK are considering handing in their notice in 2022. This high number is most likely a result of people re-evaluating their lives and where they invest their time following the life changing fallout of the pandemic. 

In a recent social post, we captured the words of a client who began working with their Evolve Career Coach in the New Year; “I’m not enjoying my job and have been dreading January. What do you think I should do?”

Whilst the gut reaction response to this question is likely to be ‘jump ship’, this isn’t always the best option or aligned what you ultimately want for your career. For instance, could this dissatisfaction be short lived and with a new mindset the situation turned around?

How to Move Forward From Here

Getting to the truth of what you’re feeling, and why, is always the first step towards positive change. We’ve compiled some of the key steps we walk our clients through to help them tackle the career blues and move forward.  

Step 1: Be Honest with Yourself

The first step is always to identify the root cause of your unhappiness. Is it an external reason (e.g., strained relationships with colleagues, lack of direction from your Line Manager) or an internal one (e.g., low self-confidence, lack of motivation)?

Once you have the ‘truth’ of the situation you can start to create the solution.

“Clarity within leads to clarity without.”

David Dillard-Wright

Step 2: Get Clear on What You Can Control

Now that you’ve taken a courageous look at things and identified the root cause, write down all the things you a) can control and b) cannot control about this situation.

When we’re feeling anxious or stressed our brains can become overly ‘fear focused’, exacerbating feelings of powerlessness and taking us further away from the career and life we deserve. Choose a better path by building an action plan based only on the actions and choices that are in your hands and you will reclaim the reins on your future.

“The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.” 

Epictetus

Step 3: Improve the Now, Explore the New

Whether your observations point you towards staying or going, you are where you are, and therefore improving the quality and enjoyment factor of your  current role ought to be a priority.

You want to move on: If it’s time to move on then great – get busy exploring other options whilst also ‘showing up’ and giving 100% to where you are now. Think of this time as your chance to leave a positive legacy behind, and besides, anything you achieve in this ‘final act’ will turn into extra evidence of your potential for future employers.

You want to stay: If you’ve realised you want to stay then great – get busy action planning what you can do to change the aspects of the role you’re unhappy about and choose to drive the solution rather than waiting for things to change by themselves. We human beings like to be the makers of our destiny and so this renewed mindset will have your career mojo reinstated in no time! 

“Dream big, start small, but most of all, start.”

Simon Sinek

We hope working through these steps will help you to shake the ‘career blues’ this January, and pinpoint what you really want to go after in 2022.

We believe in you!

Team Evolve