Discontent can fuel positive change
Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation.
- Oscar Wilde
I can count on one hand and still have fingers left over the number of clients I have had who have come to me saying, "Hey Curt, I'm pretty happy with where I've been, but I need to do some serious thinking about where to from here."
Almost without exception, the spark for contacting me is the realization that they are so dissatisfied with their current path that the idea of ten more years of the same thing is somewhat akin to taking a hammer and whacking their thumb with it.
The road to positive change started when their discontent grew strong enough that it outweighed the scariness of doing something about it. If their unhappiness with where they were hadn't reached that critical mass, they would have continued in a grey haze, never reaching out and taking that all-important first step. Their discontent became fuel for positive change.
If you are unhappy with your current career path, rather than wallow in feeling crappy about it, embrace it. Look at it and say, this is exactly what I need to motivate me to take steps towards a life that really makes me feel alive.
You don't need to take all the steps at once. Career change typically unfolds over time, not with a big dramatic WHOOSH! But if you are currently dissatisfied and don't begin taking steps - and begin taking them now - ten years from now you will still be having that same conversation with yourself.
Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM
A lot of what you said here can go for marital unhappiness too. How many people wallow in an unhappy marraige or stick in poor relationship for the same reasons. Life's too short to stay imprisoned in a relationship that you're not passionate about. Do SOMETHING about it. Either make it better, or get out, but you don't want to be there a year or ten down the road asking yourself, "Why am I still here and still unhappy?"
Posted by: Mark Sicignano | October 31, 2005 at 05:11 AM