Have you noticed that your job has slowly become less rewarding and more draining than it was when you got it? Wondering what happened?
I have a theory …
Your Comfort Zone is killing you (slowly)…
In the last 10 years, the demands of the high-tech work world have grown exponentially; we’re constantly “connected”, always doing more with less, multitasking just to keep up (or so we think)…
With all these stressors, even the best high-performers may be looking for relief. I know I was.
Backing up a half-step: I was in the toughest role in my career. My boss was trying to build an empire and I was pressured into over-promising while direction from leadership shifted faster than the weather. I could no longer buffer my team from the unrealistic leadership expectations. I began to dread my work and I had to get out.
So, I opted to take a job in which I would excel (and also enjoy!). It was great at first! 
My stress level went down, I got my balance back, I started exercising, eating better, and lost weight. Things were awesome! But, little by little, the “awesome” faded and was replaced with “OK “.
I looked to reignite my fire by working on side projects. I looked for challenges outside of work and those helped… for a while. Then “OK” became “just fine”. 
I had a great gig, but I had Iost my fire. I had stayed too long. 
Have you been here? Maybe you’re there now? But what to do???
It’s tricky… work is still very demanding! You’re still working like crazy but, the return on the investment has gone negative.
It seems counter-intuitive to put your hand in the air for a new “harder” job, so you wait… I’ll Just do this for another year until XYZ has smoothed out…. Just hang in there until ABC is done… one more year turns into two, then into three, and you wake up totally uninterested in the job that is still monopolizing all your time and energy!!
As hard as it is to leave the comfort of the job you can perform well, you need to move on. Trust me… It will be so worth it!!
What can you can do right now??
- Focus your time/energy on the more rewarding parts of your job
- Delegate the least rewarding parts to someone who is looking for new challenges
- Accelerate your networking within and outside of your company
- Learn about other jobs that would be a better fit
- Make a plan (pick something small to do each week)
These may reduce feelings of being stuck and buy some time to make a change.
Whether it is growing your side-hustle or taking the plunge to follow your true passion, the first step is to commit to making a change and then, follow through!
High performers like you thrive on learning, tackling new challenges, problem solving, and just enough discomfort.
If you’d like to accelerate your move out of your comfort zone, I’m here to help – give me a call!
Nick
FINE is the enemy of AMAZING
I help high performers reignite their fire for work!
