5 Things you can do when you're unhappy in your corporate job, but you can’t quit
It's such a common experience that after working for 15+ years, going into the office starts to feel draining. The excitement just isn't there any more. And you're not getting the kind of fulfillment that makes you happy.
You think about another role, another team, another company, but you know in your heart of hearts that it will likely be more of the same. The same work. The same politics. The same draining issues.
You feel stuck. But you can’t just get up and quit. And besides, you have no idea how you’d even make anything else work anyway.
I can totally relate.
That was me a few years ago and I've been talking to so many women lately who are at this exact crossroads. If this is where you are now, here are 5 things you can do to make your way to the other side:
Stop saying you’re stuck.
You don’t have to know what’s next, but the moment you decide you have no options, your brain stops looking for them. This is just how the mind works. It filters out information that it believes isn't relevant to you. So if you believe you're stuck, that's exactly what you'll see.
2. Don’t wait until you have the whole plan.
It's very rare when you're feeling stuck that you'll know exactly what you want to do next. There are many reasons for this—burnout, overwhelm, feeling disconnected from yourself after so many years of working. And putting pressure on yourself to figure it all out before you start will just keep you right where you are, year after year. Instead, get back in touch with what feels good to you. What you're curious about. Or a new idea that you just can't get out of your head. I started with an interest in public speaking. Not a business. Not coaching. Just one thing that sounded interesting, and I dug in to learn about it. From there everything else unfolded naturally, in perfect timing.
3. Find something meaningful outside of work.
After decades of working, many ladies lose touch with what they love. I know I did. My whole identity had been wrapped up in my career and I didn't really know who I was outside of that. For years, I stopped pursuing anything outside of climbing the ladder because I wasn't sure what the goal would be.
But once I opened my mind to the idea that it was possible to make money beyond a typical corporate career, I got the idea to look into public speaking. And once I started doing it, it lit me up in a way that I hadn't felt in a very long time. That in turn gave me new energy at work, which made my corporate job much more enjoyable.
4. Talk to people who are living lives that interest you.
My biggest opportunities came from conversations with real people, not Google searches. Once I felt that pull toward public speaking, I started setting up informational meetings to learn more. Your connections, both old and new, will be your greatest source of information and inspiration.
Find people online who's lives you admire. Connect with them and ask them how they got where there are. Go to events. Meet new people and put yourself out there. Tell everyone what you're interested in, what you're doing, and where you'd like to be. You'd be surprised at how many people extend their hand to help.
5. Build before you leap.
This is by far the best thing that I ever did. Once you decide you want something different, I highly recommend creating that thing while you're still working.
When I was about a year into my journey, I had a few people tell me I needed to quit my job immediately to pursue my passion. While I understood where they were coming from, I ultimately decided not to do this and I'm glad I did.
The thing is, when you're building something new, there are going to be a few years of inconsistency. It's important to not have the pressure of a depleting savings account or wondering how you're going to pay your bills. When your nervous system is in panic mode, you are not able to make sound, grounded decisions, which will impact your ability to succeed.
Is it challenging working while growing a business? Yes. But it's more challenging staying in an unfulfilling career for 15 years while you slowly die inside.
These lessons didn’t come from a business course.
They came from my own experience of spending years feeling trapped in a career that looked successful on paper, building a business alongside a demanding job, and coaching dozens of women through the exact same crossroads.
The one that took me the longest to learn was finally realizing that you don’t need to know exactly where you’re going before you start moving.
You just need to stop assuming there isn’t another path.
You’ll find yours when you get curious enough to take the first step.
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