Is the grass greener career-wise?

Is the grass greener on the other side of the fence, career-wise?

In the midst of the holiday season, this question is knocking loudly at your door – that gate-crasher to your party. Do you open the door and find out what all the noise is about? Is it better for you, and your career, if you did something else? Why, oh why, does this question keep niggling you? Let’s say that I’ve got your attention. [And I appreciate that it’s been a while since my last WordPress blog. Apologies for that – I got caught up in my volunteer writing and editing activities. Plus full disclosure, this is an adapted shorter blog post of one I posted recently on LinkedIn]. So what am I going to say that’s going to help you re: is the grass greener career-wise?

First, it’s not about me telling you the answer. Now you may be saying: hey, wait a minute. Yet, deep down – on whatever level you wish to describe it – you also know it’s about you figuring out the answer for yourself. So what now?

That unsettling feeling

At the moment, you sense that the grass could be greener career-wise. That’s how you perceive it. Regardless of what has prompted the ‘is the grass greener’ question, it’s making you a bit unsettled. Disconcerted. Maybe that unsettling feeling is telling you something useful: during these Christmas and New Year holidays, you’re going to sit down and really find out whether the grass is greener career-wise.

Stuck doing nothing

But you’re stuck. You know something’s amiss and regardless of your best intentions, you’re not doing much about your career next steps. Let’s look at this a little more closely.

What are you doing instead? And what are you not doing?

So perhaps you’re veg’ing on the sofa. Maybe, you’re not asking people to help you. Rather than figuring out what’s out there career-wise, it’s possible that you’re motivated by something else. Are you really stuck doing nothing…?

Why are you staying stuck?

Now there’s a big question. Something is holding you back from actually finding out whether the grass is greener. So my next question to you is:

What else is important to you career-wise?

Potentially it’s that sense of certainty from doing what you know. OK it may not feel like that all the time, but in the main, you know what’s expected of you. A new job? That’s a big learning curve and there’s the uncertainty of probation. What’s really competing with you finding out whether the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, career-wise? Sometimes looking at this from different perspectives may help identify what’s pulling you in one direction and then the next.

Forming a career next step

At this stage, it may be useful for us to explore the “what-ifs”. Noting that this is one of many potential directions for us to go.

What…If you’re not seen to know what you’re doing in a job then you’re no longer considered the star performer. If you go for something different, you’ll need to spend time getting up to speed and that’ll take you away from your favoured lifestyle. If you start looking, you might want to dramatically change your career and that brings a whole load of new issues and dilemmas. And, so you might continue. Then what? Perhaps consider how you might perceive these “what-ifs” from different viewpoints.

Is the grass greener career-wise? I don’t know. And nor do you. Perhaps, this holiday season, it’s time to take that first career next step and find out…

Merry Christmas 2014 and Happy New Year 2015

(c) inspiration365 Ltd. December 2014. www.inspiration365.org.uk