It happens to the best of us. We’ll spend years of our life working hard at school, building up a career and gaining experience just to work at a job. The initial rush of excitement and fulfilment is amazing, but within a couple of weeks, months or even after a year, the regret starts to sink in. Were you lying to yourself all along? Are you starting to realise that your job isn’t for you? Do you think you’ve just wasted years of your life pursuing the wrong goal?
Stay calm and identify what makes you dislike your job
Whatever the reason for your crisis, it’s important not to panic. First of all, no time has been wasted. Living a life free of regret is important so that you don’t look back on your life and wish you had a second chance. If you hadn’t pursued your current path, you would’ve never known what it was like to reach your goal. Interests change all the time so don’t be ashamed that you suddenly dislike your job.
However, it’s important to differentiate between a midlife crisis and a temporary setback. Try to identify what it is about your job that you dislike. Perhaps it’s the environment, maybe it’s the people you work with, or it could just be a certain colleague that is making your life miserable right now. However, if those things aren’t the problem and you simply just dislike the work you do, then there’s a high chance that you need a career switch.
Find what makes you happy and study it
Here’s a quick exercise you can do. Take a piece of paper and write down the things that made you happy when you were younger. Start from as early as possible and try to write something down for each year you can recall. Once you’re done, look at the list of things you wrote down and identify what it is that truly made you happy when you were younger. If you loved cartoons, then consider studying animation or drawing. If you enjoyed watching discovery shows, then perhaps you have a passion for adventuring.
It’s also great that you can study these things on the internet without having to leave the comfort of your home or invest extra time that you don’t have. For instance, if you loved cars when you were younger and you would love to have a job that revolves around driving, then studying at a defensive driving traffic school online will teach you plenty of tips and tricks that can bolster your knowledge. Another fantastic example is learning how to use computers. If you grew up without the latest technology then you probably find it hard to keep up with all the latest advances. With hundreds of online courses designed to teach you how to use a computer, you’ll have absolutely no trouble picking up new skills.
Live with no regrets
Making a career switch is a daunting task, but it’s important that you don’t force yourself down a path that you don’t enjoy. You have to think about yourself now and then. You need to aim for a career that truly makes you happy instead of picking a job that gets you the most money. Don’t let your fears hold you back; change your career and aim for something that enables you to live life without regret.
