Am I happy in my job?

Do you feel you’ve got that elusive “Good job”?

Are you happy in your job?

I often used to ask myself is this career really for me? Am I happy?

We have all asked ourselves these questions but do we ever give the time and the thought to properly answering them? Or do we just brush them aside and continue on with life, making up excuses and justifications for why we can’t pursue what we really want out of life and our jobs.

Why we stay in jobs we find unsatisfying

I believe a lot of us have sat down and asked these questions but we have not given ourselves the proper time and thought to answering them. Some of us haven’t even taken the time to ask these questions of ourselves. 

It’s true a lot of us are unhappy in our careers: a full 70% of people I have spoken with in the last few months have expressed unhappiness with their jobs. This has led me to study job satisfaction further.

I have found that people stay in jobs while being unhappy for three main reasons:

1. They don’t like the job but like the pay.
2. They like the job but it doesn’t pay enough.
3. They don’t really like the job or the pay, but they like their colleagues or boss, and so enjoy the social connection at work more than anything.

If you are in one of these categories then most likely the career you’re in isn’t for you. You don’t have to be unhappy, you can change. It is easier than you think if you really want it.

Take action

But you need to take some action.

We often have the misconception that our careers are for life. That may have been the case back in the 70’s, but now it’s not uncommon now for us to have three and in some cases four careers in our life time. So why stay somewhere if you are unhappy?

Please feel free to connect with me to discuss your career more deeply. Who out there feels unhappy at work?