Before I finally left my soul-killing job in Corporate America, I always got the itch to change jobs about every two or three years. It never failed.
Does this happen to you? At first, you like your job. It’s new, there are different tasks, and different co-workers.
Eventually, the newness wears off. The routine sets in. The drudgery ensues. Those “different” co-workers are now just an annoying set of extras in the drama of your life.
You begin to entertain other options. The grass begins to look greener at some other firm, or some other pursuit. Occasionally, you search Monster.com or even, pathetically, the Careers section of your current employers’ intranet.
If this is you, you can be sure of at least two things:
1. You are not working in the field of your calling.
The problem is not “the job.” It’s the whole field of work you are in. When you live in that cycle of trying of constant job changes and job hunting for “something better” it usually means that you are totally out of your element.
This is the place many of us find ourselves trapped in. We have a resume, and it is defined by exactly the kind of work we no longer want to pursue. We probably never did want to pursue it. But, there we are, and it is nearly impossible to get out. That was the world of banking and finance or me. I spent 10 years in that place, and did not know how I was ever going to get out.
But you MUST get out. Or kiss your passion good-bye.
Crossing the Chasm between where we are and where we want to be is the most difficult part of the process, but it is possible. I am going to be sharing more on this topic in a future post.
2. You will not be happy in the next job either.
There is a strong temptation to substitute one career that is not our calling for another career that isn’t our calling. A good friend of mine, who knows the plight of working for the man all too well, put it this way: It’s like moving from the clown car to the trapeze.
Yeah, it’s a change. Yeah, the perspective is different. But at the end of the day, it’s still working for the circus.
Abandoning our career and embracing our calling is about leaving the circus all together. It’s about finding and fulfilling that one thing you know you were created to do. It’s about finding the “sweet spot” where passion, purpose, and our God-given talents converge.
Ask yourself this: Are you ready to leave the circus, or are you just looking for a different job description under the same Big Tent?
If you are ready to leave the circus, then email me with your single greatest obstacle or fear that is standing in your way from taking the next step. I’d love to see if I can help.
