When you’re unsure if you still enjoy your current job, where do you begin?
Chances are, this question applies to you too. In 2021, more than 40%(!) of the global workforce considered quitting their jobs (Work Trend Index 2021).
Most people start by looking at available job openings. It’s an easy way to engage with a difficult topic. Without preparation, you can spend hours scrolling through job listings on LinkedIn. This gives you the feeling of being in control. By starting with available job openings, you’re making an ‘outside-in’ move. From the outside to the inside.
It’s like going to the supermarket hungry but without knowing what you want to eat.
You walk along the aisles and decide on each product if you want to buy it. It feels good at first. Until you realize you’re not being efficient. And you might have to come back in the evening because you overlooked something.
Choosing a new job is a big decision with a significant impact on your life. Comparable to buying a house or choosing a partner. To help you get started, below are some guidelines I work with.
- Research shows that having options leads to greater satisfaction with your choice when the number of options is low. You’d rather choose from 3 options than have no choice at all.
- Having more options (>5 options) is paralyzing, leads to reduced decision-making ability, and lower satisfaction(!) with your choice. This is something we’ve only recently come to understand. Until recently, scientific research focused on scenarios of ‘no choice’ versus ‘limited choice’.
- Important decisions are preferably not made with your head, but with your heart. Your mind will constantly analyze all options and come to different optimal outcomes each time. This keeps you doubting and increases the chances of making a sub-optimal choice.
- The best choices are made by starting with yourself: What makes you happy? What do you bring and take away? And what do you need to be successful? This is a movement from the inside out. Or in other words, inside-out.
Do you see how the approach of the average doubter is opposite to these guidelines?
Without a clear idea of what someone is looking for, they start with a (too) large number of options, hoping to make a good choice based on rational grounds.
The result?
Many people delay their decision due to doubt and remain in their current job, even if they are dissatisfied.
Another group makes a change, only to find that this job isn’t a good fit either. These people go through the same process again.
Finally, there’s a minority that starts at the beginning, only to come home with a good feeling and a good salary.
At Growth Center, we’re here to work with you so that you belong to that last group.
