There are many millennials frustrated and feeling burned out after the post-graduate honeymoon phase is over and the rose-tinted glasses have gone out of style. You may have walked off the graduation stage wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to take on the world, until a few years working the 9-to-5 has you thinking, “This can’t be life.”
Well, fret no more. Everyone has those days of second-guessing why they chose their career path and re-evaluating whether any of it is even worth it. Before you put in your two-weeks notice and trail off into an oblivion of the unknown, consider these three steps to help you fall back in love with your career:
1. Make a list of pros and cons. Consider factors such as location, salary, job duties, potential for growth, network and agreement with your passions (or what you do well). Oftentimes, you’ll find that there’s more that you love—or can grow to love, in the grand scheme of things—than you think. If there are more cons than pros, maybe it’s not your career choice but the particular job you hold. If that’s the case, try to think of positive ways to change negatives about that current post you’re in. A relocation, not a change of career, may be in order.
2. Learn more about your industry. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in a rut due to doing and thinking about the same things over and over again in terms of your career. There can be other aspects of the industry you’re in that you’ve never discovered or imagined. Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging jobs within your career path, and start networking with peers who are innovators or entrepreneurs. This is a great way to be at the pulse of what’s going on and become an innovator yourself.
3. Step your game up. Nothing like a good challenge to test your love affair with your career. Sign on for a new project that recharges your analytical and problem-solving skills. Partner with an awesome coworker to create new ideas and agendas to implement for adding value in some way. Look into related tasks where you could position yourself in a unique way for advancement.
What are other steps have you taken to keep things fresh and fall back in love with your career? #Soundoff and follow me on Twitter @JPHazelwood.