Want Faster Career Advancement? Focus On Fulfillment.
An opportunity to grow and advance within your chosen career is incredibly motivating. With that carrot of promotion dangling just outside of your reach, you clock extra hours, come into the office early, invest in developing your skills, and prioritize your career. When it all comes together, the hard work pays off, and you rise quickly in the ranks.
But what happens when you don't experience the career advancement you're expecting? Despite all of the late nights, personal investments in your growth, and laser focus on your job, you still feel stagnant. There isn't a promotion in sight, you're not getting paid enough, and you end feeling anywhere from numb to flat out miserable.You wonder why you feel this way. On paper, the job and company are great, but you find yourself dreading going into the office.
These feelings aren't uncommon. When left untreated, they can keep otherwise qualified and skilled professionals in the wrong role, at the wrong company for far too long. It's not surprising that so many people end up in this predicament. They're unintentionally approaching career advancement the wrong way.
The Secret To Career Advancement
Career advancement is the pursuit of professional development and gaining relevant industry experience. When you prioritize career advancement, you do not rely on your company to prioritize your growth. You take the responsibility yourself. The best way to achieve this advancement is finding real fulfillment in your career.
When you feel a clarity of purpose and your job is alignment with your purpose you will feel genuinely fulfilled. You're working towards something that inspires you, and that aligns with your values. There is no substitute for that feeling.
With a job that you love, you will reach your potential faster than if you stay grinding at a position that doesn't feel like the right fit.
In our experience, there are a few reasons why sticking with the wrong role and trying to achieve career advancement rarely pays off.
1. Stress Can Take A Toll On Your Health
Nearly 60% of employees report being stressed all or most of the time at work, according to a 2017 Udemy Report. Sometimes, you can write off stress as being a part of any job. However, Sajid Rahman, a top performer, believes constant stress has significant risks.
“The office can be a soul-crushing place. The endless bureaucracy and pointless conversation are mind-numbing. Sometimes it gets so bad it takes a physical toll on people.”
If you're in a position where you're too overwhelmed to enjoy your job or find passion in your work, your entire career will come to a halt.
2. If You Don't Advance In Your Role, You’ll Probably Leave
According to a report from Kern Ferry, 33% of professionals selected “I’m bored and need a new challenge” as their motivation for moving on to another job. Nicole Dominguez, a developer from Brooklyn, opted to leave her full-time job when she began to feel stagnant and lost.
“From the outside, I had it all and my life was great. But on the inside, I wanted more; I wanted something else.”
While leaving a job that doesn't make you happy is understandable, it's challenging to develop speed and momentum if you need to switch positions too often. That's why you should prioritize finding a role that will be long-lasting.
3. An Unfulfilling Job Wastes Your Time
An average of 70% of work time goes to waste. That's a significant amount of time that you could spend improving your self-awareness and building your skill set. Instead, it is spent fetching coffee, answering phones, and plugging away at meaningless projects.
Lily Angelle, a contributor for Medium, found herself in this position while working in the film industry.
After taking an entry-level paid job for a prominent film executive, Angelle found herself tending to personal errands, such as managing his cats, instead of learning anything about the industry. She wanted to pay her dues but realized she was wasting her time.
“This strategy, however, wasn’t moving me in any direction. For months I plugged away, having been told in school that the film industry is a bit of a ladder and you have to work your way up from the bottom.”
She eventually moved on, and now works for a film nonprofit in Austin.
4. You Start Prioritizing Others Over Yourself
Nearly 79 percent of people who quit their jobs cite ‘lack of appreciation’ as their reason for leaving. It's a common occurrence. People stay stuck in jobs to serve priorities and objectives that aren't in alignment with their goals. Their lives become about other people, and they begin to resent it.
However, when you don't have an exceptional reason for leaving, it can be challenging to rationalize quitting. You feel guilty and obligated to stay at the position and see it through, possibly prolonging your exit and potential career advancement at another company.
What do you do?
Sarah Knight, a self-help author, left her job as a senior editor at a major publishing company, decided that despite her guilt, prioritizing her happiness above others was a good enough reason to go.
“I like to think I’m a pretty valuable asset, but it’s not as though I abandoned my post as the only doctor in town during a smallpox outbreak. Okay, but did I have a competing offer, you ask? Nope. Did I win the lottery? Sadly, also nope.”
“I just wanted to be happier, and in order to achieve that, I had to become someone I’ve always looked down on: a quitter.”
There's never a perfect time to leave a job. When you start putting other people's goals and plans ahead of your own, and it's impacting your career advancement, it's time to consider a change.
5. You Will Delay Your Financial Growth
Around 60% of U.S. workers said it would take an extra $6,000 per year to feel satisfied with their job. That means a significant number of people feel underpaid for the work they do and continue to stay in their current positions. They believe that the experience will be worth the temporary discomfort of a lesser paycheck. However, working under these conditions can do more harm than good.
Talia Ben-Ora, who accepted an entry-level customer support job at Yelp!, a prominent review platform based in San Francisco, quickly realized the disadvantages of working for pennies at a big brand.
“So here I am, 25-years old, balancing all sorts of debt and trying to pave a life for myself that doesn’t involve crying in the bathtub every week.”
“Every single one of my coworkers is struggling. They’re taking side jobs; they’re living at home. One of them started a GoFundMe because she couldn’t pay her rent.”
If you’re waiting for a raise or bigger paycheck to feel happy at work, it could be a long time before you experience that. A new job could also align with your goals and values better. You can get the financial bump you need and feel more financially stable.
However, we do not recommend chasing more money at the expense of your own values. It will only lead to more of the same. Only consider companies and jobs that are in alignment with your values. In some cases, you may need to take a pay cut if you have the financial space to do so. It will pay off in the long run.
6. Everyday Will Be On Repeat
Around 53 percent of Americans are currently unhappy at work. Although it's normal to feel dissatisfaction in your career from time to time, if you do not prioritize fulfillment and growth and let this continue, you can easily fall into a rut.
Over time, long-lasting feelings of frustration and hopelessness can begin to impact your relationships, home life, and health. Rachel Smith, a strategist for Eye Think, describes how repetitive feelings of unhappiness led her to leave her job, which she had held for ten years.
“I’d become a passive participant in my life, one that rotated around something that meant very little to me.”
“Each day was on repeat, each cycle of twenty-four hours where the sun rose and set was virtually indistinguishable from the next.”
While you will experience some discomfort at work, it should never last more than a few weeks at the most. If you stick with a job that's stagnating your career advancement, it's time to try something new.
7. You’ll Miss Out On Learning Opportunities
A large number of people receive training at work. However, 43% of employees find it to be ineffective. Yann Girard, a Medium Contributor who admittedly loved his job and received a rewarding paycheck, realized it wasn't challenging him in the right ways, it was time to go.
“I realized that if I want to unleash my potential and figure myself out, then I’d have to do it myself. Because no one else ever will.”
When you're not receiving the right kind of professional development at work, you can't challenge your skill set or growth. At this point, you're holding yourself back and not taking ownership over your future.
Finding Your Way To Career Fulfillment
In the long-term, the dissatisfaction that comes with staying in a misaligned position can erode your self-esteem and deter growth. It won't be worth the potential raise or the lofty promotion that you might get someday, maybe years from now. You will sacrifice your time, energy, and potential to see something through that may not even satisfy you.
However, getting back on track can be difficult. If you know you're unhappy, but not sure what to do next, check out our Career Clarity Assessment. Within the assessment, you will answer questions about your current work satisfaction and receive a one-of-a-kind fulfillment score. From there, you can get on the right path to getting the life-changing career advancement you need.
