There is nothing more depressing than being in a rut and it gets worse if you are not happy with your rut. If the only thing good you can say about your career is that it beats unemployment, it’s pretty sad. While it is all too true that it beats not having an income, there really is something you can do to help yourself; but first let’s explore all the reasons that you may not be exactly happy with your current situation.
Dissatisfaction with one’s job rarely has to do with the fact you don’t like what you are doing. All too often while we might love what we do, there are other factors at play that ‘darken our doorway’. You might have to put up with a surly manager or boss, and you feel like you are at his or her mercy; you have to take his abusive behavior, since you don’t have any other sure bets that represent making ‘a living’. There are laws of course that are meant to protect us but some people know how to push the envelope just enough to make you miserable, yet not enough to warrant legal action.
Or it may just be a co-worker that constantly insults you or does other things that you do not approve of, but you don’t want to be seen as a ‘trouble maker’ or a ‘tattle tale’ so you just grin and bear it. Or it may be just a rough commute and you are sick and tired of the stress that getting up on time, getting out the door on time, and stuck in traffic powerless; while you sit and wait while you get closer to being late every minute. All these things can add up over time, day in and day out.
The worst one however is being under-employed and/or under-valued. You know you could do more. You know that if you had the authority to do things your way that it would probably work much better. Nobody really understands, do they? Again, you don’t want to make any waves so you just tolerate everything and ‘make the best of it’. Wise, but pretty sad when you think of how much time in your day is spent on the job. It is really the ‘greater part of your life’ that you spend working. Some may feel it is not that important to be happy or to expect everything to be perfect – and again, it beats unemployment.
What about the fact that your kids are growing up at day care and that strangers are seeing all their ‘firsts’ instead of you, who hear about it second-hand. It may seem like it is necessary, but it really isn’t. You might feel it is just easier that way but it isn’t, not really. There are really alternatives for you for all of the above. You can start a business online in your spare time. You can build something your way, using your best skills and do it at your own pace. At the end of the day you can determine how much money you make just by how much effort you are willing to invest. You really can have it all but the first step is realizing you can do better than you are doing and that you can control when you work, how much you work, and how much money you can make.
Maybe the first year or so it would be most wise to keep the miserable day job, because starting any business takes time to develop beyond the initial learning curve. It is probably not some fantasy where you will be driving a $100k car after a few months, but who knows what will happen if you are realistic and you are really determined to take control of your own destiny?
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