Married To The Job

The longer you stay in a job or field, should the higher your commitment be to it?

The answer is it depends.

Your commitment to anything, whether it is a house, a job, a partner, an activity, or an association with a person or group, should be based on clear thinking about where you are, what your needs are, what your circumstances are, what your priorities are, and what your observations are regarding the current or future suitability of the situation for you.

Just as you should evaluate whether to stay in the house you are living in, or whether to hold on to an investment you have your money in, you should evaluate your job circumstances on a regular basis.

Here are some reasons to stop being married to a job or field...

The reason why you took up the job has been satisfied

You had some reason to take up the job.

Example, you wanted to get some experience.

The job was the best thing you could find in that moment.

Now some time has passed.

The job has given you all the experience you can get.

It’s time to move on!

You wanted to tap what was potentially an attractive income opportunity

The job or field held great promise.

You knew there was demand for it, and significant money to be made.

Now time has passed.

You realize the income opportunity has been tapped.

In fact, the income opportunity has been diminishing for some time, due to a number of factors, some expected, some unexpected, either way disappointing.

It’s time to move on!

You had an ideal set of skills for what you were doing, which is not so ideal anymore

When you started in the field, you were able to wow, or at the very least, do a decent job.

With the background and skills you had, you were able to tackle all the responsibilities and challenges thrown at you, and there was never any doubt you could be counted on to deliver.

Unfortunately, your skill-set, which might have been suitable for a specific time or place, is less than ideal for dealing with a different time and place.

The pace of change, new developments, and lack of exposure, have all left you with less to offer.

The ideal set of skills is beyond what you currently possess.

It’s time to move on!

When the field or job was new to you, you could overlook the annoyances that came with it

Jobs or fields can come with all kinds of problems.

Micromanagement…

Undercutting…

Last minute hitches…

Troublemakers…

Corruption…

Unfairness..

And more.

You are tired of the annoyances in your job or field.

You think you deserve better and can do better.

And perhaps you do.

It’s time to move on!

You had a network that was going for you in your job or field – which does not exist anymore

Networking, networking, networking.

This is what you hear is the key to thriving in a field.

Unfortunately, you have no network going for you.

You had a network at one time.

Now this is not the case, for the following reasons…

The network has moved on.

Or you are out of touch with your network.

Or your network has even aged out of the field.

Maybe you had no network at all to begin with.

It’s time to move on!

You had abandoned a job, field, or arena for better opportunities, but a new opportunity has surfaced in that job, field, or arena, in a form that's exciting, and appears to have tremendous potential for income and growth

Whether it’s brand new and excites you, or connected with something you once did, and excites you, the answer is clear…

Seize the moment.

It’s time to move on!

You had modest financial goals when you originally started in a job, practice area, or field. That has changed

Financial goals change over time.

When you were starting out, because you were starting out, or because of circumstances, such as parenting a young child, you chose to do a less stressful job and settle for a modest income.

You did not dare to think of more ambitious financial goals.

Now that you have experience, or you can give more time to your work, maybe you want to go after bigger financial goals which will bring you more income.

Perhaps, you even need to bring in more income, because you have identified certain things you would like to achieve, which will require more income to achieve.

Unfortunately, these ambitious financial goals cannot be met in your current job, practice area, or field.

It’s time to move on!

You have a tough decision to make

It's a tough call divorcing your job, current field, or practice area, especially if you’ve been married to it for a long time.

You can make a change, and if the gamble doesn't work out, you would have lost ground for nothing.

It's not a pleasant thought.

But the consequences of continuing to be married to your job, practice area, or field, are also clear.

You could be in the same place, months from now.

You could be in the same place years from now.

You could be in the same place a decade from now.

While survival in a job or field is a test of merit, there's also the risk that your job or line of work can abruptly come to an end, because for example, your company closes down or moves offshore, or your industry becomes redundant.

Then what?

Being married to the job or field, and the diminishing rewards associated with it, will have been for nothing, anyway.

Will you be able to surface from an ending like that with your optimism and positive attitude intact? Or will it be extremely difficult?

I will leave you with that question today.

Perhaps it is time to move on?