I wasn’t long into my 30s and I started having these nightmares that I keep losing my shoes. At the same time, work was feeling very monotonous and everything just felt same same – it felt like there was nothing to look forward to, I was feeling unmotivated and feeling like everyone else was moving ahead and I was just stuck.
Back to the nightmares, they started to become very frequent and I was walking up panicked. I’m not usually into dream interpretation but something needed to be done. I started to Google the meaning behind my dream and the answer was that my subconscious was telling me that I was feeling disappointment in some areas of my life and also that I had no path ahead.
After wallowing in self pity for much longer than I should have, I decided if I wanted a change then it was up to me, no one was going to do it for me.
If you’ve ever felt this same, this is why you might be feeling stuck:
1. Not planning
For me, I had not done any real career planning for years. I took time to think about where I want to be, and what skills I might need to build to get there. I enrolled in a short course at my local university and interesting, as soon as I enrolled my dreams about losing my shoes stopped.
2. Not taking time to build a network / building a presence
When I was also doing my planning, I realised that my network was stale to an extent. I hadn’t been proactive in maintaining good connections or seeks our new ones. If you need a hand with this, see our article on strategic networking: https://strategyself.com/5-key-tips-for-strategic-networking-and-why-it-is-necessary-for-all-new-leaders/
3. Learn to speak up and be heard
I also realised that I had stopped advocating for myself.
I become comfortable with the status quo and wasn’t speaking up for things that I felt should be happening at work. This was also getting me down. I learnt how to be heard and started to feel my input had value and positive change was starting to occur.
4. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
It was twelve months later that I also actually changed careers. I drew on my existing skill set and the new skill set I had developed and took a career in a totally new industry. I have never felt more uncomfortable in my career, I had worked for 12 years for the same company and this change felt huge. But I had also never felt so excited at the same time.
Everyone’s path is different, but by taking time to evaluate where you are and where you want to be and start putting some plans into action – you will start to become “unstuck”.
I’m a big believer that action creates clarity, and this is your sign to sit down and do some career planning.
