3 signs you're stuck in the wrong career
Research shows that low job satisfaction in your 20s and 30s can have a negative impact on your mental health in your 40s and beyond.
According to a recent survey of U.S. workers, 65 percent of employees are satisfied with their current job, while 35 percent rank their job satisfaction at a six or less on a scale of one to 10. Certified health coach and co-founder of the Health Coach Institute Stacey Morgenstern tells CNBC Make It that it's imperative not just to employees' goals but to their health that they find a career that fulfills their professional needs.
Below are three signs that she says can help you determine if you're in the wrong career:
1. You feel underpaid, overworked and underappreciated
Morgenstern says one of the top red flags to being in the wrong career path is you constantly feel drained, overworked and underpaid. While many industries require long hours and hard work, she says the career that is most fulfilling to you will not make you dread coming into the office.
"If you thank God for Fridays and pray that Sundays won't end, then this isn't the career for you," she says.
Regardless of whether you're just starting out or more than 10 years deep into your profession, she says it's never too late make a change.
Netflix former Chief Talent Officer Patty McCord agrees and says that one of the first steps to getting out of a wrong career is to talk to someone who is doing what you think you might like.
"If you think the grass is greener somewhere else, go munch some grass on the other side of the fence," she tells Harvard Business Review. "Finding work that you love is a fair amount of work. So, do the work."
2. You feel like you're not being challenged
If you feel uninspired, bored or stuck in a mundane routine of doing the same thing over and over again, then chances are it's time for a career change.
"I think fulfillment comes when we feel like we are learning and exercising our creativity and our efforts are making a meaningful impact," says Morgenstern. "If you have reached a dead end and there is no more room for you to grow then it may be time to consider your next step."
If you're unsure of what that next step should be, Morgenstern says think about the things that often bring you joy in your free time. Is there a way for those activities to be translated into a career?
"Notice what you are fascinated by and want to talk about all the time," she says. "Notice what people naturally come to you for."
3. You feel called to something different
Being in the wrong career doesn't always mean that you're bored with your job or that you're bad at it. Sometimes, it means you're actually good at your job but you know that you're called to do something completely different.
"Two things happen when we are on the verge of this," says Morgenstern. "We either stifle the call or we go with the call."
When we stifle it, Morgenstern says the delay is often fueled by fear of the unknown, fear of being too old, or fear of being unable to pay the bills.
"Those fears are valid and how you get unstuck is to write down all of the fears you have," she says. "And then start seeing the possibility. What else might be true of what could happen?"
Rather than thinking of the negative aspects, Morgenstern says you should start thinking of the positive aspects like more money, more time off, better fulfillment and better balance.
"Ask yourself the five-year question," she says. "If your life or career continues on its current trajectory and you are in the same place in five years, are you OK with where you are headed? Does that inspire you or fill you with regret?"
If it fills you with regret, then she says making a change now is vital not only to your happiness, but to your health as well.
"When we stifle [a career change] it eventually bites us, and I think that is why we see so many people going through silence and despair and depression," she says. "We've created a culture where our livelihood is killing us when it should be making us come more alive."
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