This week’s Entrepreneur University is inspired by YE blog reader Timothy who last week was looking for a way of eventually replacing his salary so that he can quit his day job.
To help Timothy and our other readers I called on Elizabeth Lengyel. Elizabeth, President of PeopleCoach, Inc., delivers career breakthroughs. A trusted career coach, Elizabeth is passionate about helping ambitious professionals get juiced about their careers.
Elizabeth talks about when you know it’s time to quit your job:
“Are you feeling tired? Are you dreading Monday morning? Are you short-tempered and impatient with coworkers and family members?
Everyone, even people who love their jobs, sometimes experience Sunday night blues or irritability from time to time. However, if you feel blue every Sunday night, pay attention, you may be suffering from work inertia.
Here are the symptoms:
o You often feel tired and lack energy
o You are last to arrive and have difficulty getting into your work.
o Your work doesn’t motivate you – you just go through the motions.
o You dread going into work, especially after weekends and holidays.
o Things that you used to care about no longer elicit the same strong emotions.
o You are impatient and short tempered with coworkers as well as family members.
o You are indifferent about things you once felt strongly about and don’t stand up for your
beliefs or situations you’d like to see changed.
o You lack interest or pride in your work.
o You complain – a lot.
o You think about quitting but don’t for one of these reasons: “It’ll take too much effort to
look for a new job.” “I’m too tired to even think about a change.” “Better the devil you
know than the one you don’t.”
If you have these feelings often, you know you’re not happy at work. How do you change your situation? Do you need a job change – or a career makeover to put that spark back in your days?
To figure out whether clients need a job change or a career change, I often ask them to reflect on the following questions:
o What is really getting in the way of being happy at work?
o Is it the actual work you’re doing?
o Is it the people you work with?
o Is it because your employer doesn’t recognize your strengths and value?
o Do you even know what your top strengths and values are?
Take Susan, for example. When I asked her these questions, she discovered that she loved her current pay and benefits, but she felt bored and frustrated at work. She had no passion for her profession. She worked alone with numbers all day, but she craved a team environment where she could use her innate creativity and apply her wealth of ideas. In short, Susan needed a career change that encompassed her interests and ignited her passions.
Ask yourself what makes you unhappy at work. Armed with honest answers, you’ll be in a position to determine if you’re bored and have reached a plateau; if you enjoy what you do, but not where you’re doing it; or if you need to find a better career fit.
Don’t stay in a career rut. Be open to new ideas and explore new professional goals. Shake things up a bit! Confront your job lethargy with change, and then make a commitment. Find a friend, mentor, or coach to help you. Above all, don’t settle. You deserve much more than that.”
Is there a topic you would like to learn more about for the next Entrepreneur University? Leave a comment below and we’ll try to find an expert to discuss your topic!
Evan Carmichael
Matthew Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur, and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Adam. Matthew is co-author of the newly released book:Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs.
Having worked in HR, I can confirm that this is very valid advice – although, to be fair, I’d have a few not-too-kind things to say to the recruiter who thought hiring a team-driven person for an individualized, number-crunching job was a good idea.
One of the best things you’ll ever do for yourself and your career is to take the HBDI test, because it really shows you what kind of person you are and what career disciplines you should be focusing on. For example, mine demonstrates that I am horrible at numbers and, to a lesser extent, organizing; I am, however, an excellent communicator and long-term visionary.
As a result, I’d know not to look for accounting jobs and instead stick with marketing/PR, etc. Unfortunately, it’s all too often that you run into HR practitioners who do not pay close enough attention to matching the job to the employee’s personality – the situation described in this blog post is the sad – but all too frequent – outcome.
I agree, and would add that if you’re going to start your own business, quit your job.
Some people get away with both, but you run legal risks.
Besides that, starting any sort of company takes all your time. There’s always an infinite amount of work. To do take even a decent crack at it, it needs undivided attention.
Evan,
I like the push from this site, with articles regarding people who encourage people to do what they love. This is what http://www.under30ceo.com/ is founded on, moving away from the typical 9-5. With the Wayne Huizenga article you definitely caught my attention, and with this article you now have a loyal follower. Keep up the great work.
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