When Moving On Means Moving Up
I had a habit of hanging on to jobs too long. They’d start well and continue that way for some time – but I always ignored the signals when it was time to move on.
The first time this happened was when I lived in London and worked in investment banking. After fifteen great years I lost out in an internal reshuffle, but hung on too long afterwards, travelling every week on my own in search of new clients because I couldn’t think of what else to do.
A few years later, running my own business, a recession forced clients to reduce their spending. I kept plugging away, however, taking the same old approach to generating new business because I didn’t take the time to think of anything new. Hanging on too long!
More than a decade later, the professional services business I was leading got hit by the global recession, making it very difficult to sell work. I kept telling myself I was going to “have a breakthrough.” The thought of losing the salary and prestige was terrible! I continued a lonely journey to nowhere, deluding myself – not least because my boss had already threatened to move me on..
I’ve thought a lot about repeatedly making the same mistakes, and the most valuable insights and lessons include:
Hanging on because of the salary, shares and status doesn’t do you any good in the long term.
Fearing the unknown prevents you from exploring what else you can do and discovering what really makes you happy.
Making choices from your values, not emotions or ‘rational’ intellect, is very powerful.
Fearing failure and humiliation instead of confronting reality only hurts and damages you.
Being accountable and allowing others to help you gets you to where you need to be.
Grieving the loss of a job in which you have invested your heart and soul is important if you wish to recover from the experience.
I successfully transitioned on all three occasions thanks to the support of others. But what about you: are you hanging on to anything that is causing you stress?
If the answer is “yes,” maybe you need to re-examine your priorities and release yourself from those things holding you back.
It’s a journey worth taking.
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