Should I quit my job?

You're not alone.

People often tell me they are unhappy with their jobs. They fantasize about getting out and like most fantasies, it doesn't happen.

The good news is:

Those who do make the switch don't regret it.

The bad news is:

This doesn't make the decision any easier for you.

You have responsibilities and quitting your job in this economy seems a bit reckless. On the flip side, staying at a job you should be leaving is downright foolish.

So how do you know when to say goodbye to your employer?

Look for the five warning signs below. If you see any one of these signs, begin planning your exit strategy. If a few of these hold true for you, start updating your résumé now.

You should quit your job if you're:

Only in it for the Money

If the only thing that is keeping you at your job is your compensation, then you may want to consider other career options. If you:

• look to do as little as possible during the workday,
• would leave immediately for a higher paid job,
• stay in bed until the absolute last minute before being unacceptably late for work,

then money is probably the main reason you're staying at your job.

Money is important but use it to enhance your life NOT dictate it.

Looking to Retire

What do you want from your professional career?

If your answer is to retire early, then you should probably look to quit what you're doing now. You can get an idea about what you should be doing by looking at what you would do if you could retire.

We're not promised tomorrow so it is always risky to put up with something undesirable (e.g. your current job) for a future reward that may never happen. Why not choose a path that will allow you to enjoy yourself along the way to your desired destination?

Successful people rarely retire even when they are eligible to. Look at Warren Buffett, William Zinsser or Frances Hesselbein. They are well over the retirement age and have the means to retire yet they still get up in the morning and go to "work".

"You have to love something to do well at it"

- Warren Buffet

Not Learning What Matters

The more value you add, the more desirable you'll be for employers.

Your value comes from learning skills that people are willing to pay for. If you want to be wildly successful, cultivate skills that combine your natural talents with what people will pay you for. If your current job doesn't allow you to learn the skills that matter to you, you are wasting your potential.

One common mistake people make is to confuse learning what matters with learning new things. While there are many benefits to learning new things, it is important to make sure you devote a good amount of your time learning marketable skills that play to your strengths. If you're not sure what your strengths are, test your  aptitude to find out.

You spend most of your waking hours working. If you're not given responsibilities at work where you can build your key skills, you'll have a hard time becoming valuable. People who don't add value become obsolete and are eventually let go. Always look for the job that will challenge you (in a good way).

Working for a Horrible Boss

People don't leave their companies. They leave their managers.

A horrible boss can take many forms:

• Someone who is disrespectful.
• Someone who doesn't develop you.
• Someone who steals all the credit. 

You're in trouble if you have a bad boss. If there is no sign that your boss will be leaving the company, it's a good idea to start looking elsewhere for work.

Remember: Your environment exists because you either wanted it, rewarded it or allowed it to happen. You can choose to stay or your can choose to leave. Don't ever give up that power.

Pretending to be Someone Else

This is a deal breaker for me.

If being yourself is detrimental to your success at work, you're better off leaving.

It's too tiring and stressful to be someone you're not. You won't do it well and it's not sustainable. You'll eventually burn out from selling out.

Please don't confuse this with professional development or stepping out of your comfort zone. I'm referring to instances where you're asked to do something that goes against your principles, your morals or any other strong belief. In these instances, consider speaking with Human Resources to transfer right away.

For example: If you're told to be more "aggressive" to get the job done, you need to decide whether this is a good strategy you weren't aware of or if it is something that goes against your principles. If it's a good strategy, understand that it'll be awkward during the learning stage. If it goes against your beliefs, look to find another approach or another role.

Your standards are for you to set and there is no right or wrong. Don't ever let your employer decide what you should believe.

If any of these situations reflect your work life, quitting may not be a bad idea. Before you type up your resignation letter, keep these important points in mind:

• Take time to figure out what job best suits you - consider reading What Color is Your Parachute or attend my Know What You Want Workshop. 
• Evaluate the job before you accept the job - do informational interviews with current employees and prepare the right questions to get the answers you need. There is no point blindly jumping from one bad situation into another.
• Ease the transition - no need to reach your dream job in one try. Take steps towards it.
• Start saving money NOW - the better your finances, the more freedom you'll have to transition.
• Be responsible for your future - only you can make it happen.

Have you ever left your job? What made you quit?

For those who see these warning signs in your professional life, what do you plan to do about it?

Share this article with anyone who is unhappy with their job.

The post Top 5 Reasons You Should Quit Your Job appeared first on Embrace Possibility.

Your project is put on hold and you notice your team in meetings without you.

You've seen this happen to other people who were laid off but you don't believe it will happen to you.

You ignore that sinking feeling because you've always done what you were suppose to do and have even gone above and beyond the call of duty.

And then it happens.

You get the call.

You go into the office (still in denial).

And you get the news ... along with the infamous cardboard box.

Feelings of betrayal and anger boil up just to be overcome by an overwhelming dread ...

It's never easy to lose your job and sometimes it is hard to decide what to do.

Recently I've had a few friends who have lost their jobs and all around me I've been hearing about layoffs.

The purpose of this article is to get people moving again.

Here is what you should do if you lose your job:

Take Responsibility

The last thing you want to do in this situation is feel like a victim. Take responsibility that you were let go because the company no longer needed what you had to offer. It is important to realize that you are not entitled to job security and no one owes you anything. If you felt undervalued, under-appreciated or under-utilized, it is of your own doing.

Who didn't speak up when they should have?

Who didn't volunteer for the new initiative? or

Who didn't meet with their manager to clarify performance criteria?

It was you.

Even if you were laid off because of economic or business conditions, consider why you or your department was let go and not other people. If your whole company went bankrupt, did all your competitors? If not, why not?

Only when you take responsibility can you learn from the situation and focus your energy in a resourceful and productive way. People who feel victimized waste their energy complaining and garnering pity. They feel that someone should come to their rescue or fix the situation. I'm sorry to tell you this but reinforcements are not on the way. You'll need to handle this on your own.

Let Go and Move On

You are not your result. The faster you understand this, the faster you will make a full recovery. Being laid off is something that happens to you not something you become. Learn from this "negative" experience, determine the actions you will take and move on. Don't make the one mistake people make when learning from their mistakes.

Accept that you were laid off and view this setback as opening doors for other opportunities (at least that's what Albert Einstein would do). Just because your current employer lets you go, doesn't mean other employers don't want to pick you up. Also, this may be the perfect chance for you to start that business you've always wanted. Start experimenting.

Job Search: Quality Over Quantity

You may be tempted to just update your résumé, connect with everyone on LinkedIn and begin sending out resumes for every job out there but that would be a big mistake. It would probably result in being thrown into another job that you're not too excited about, which results in mediocre performance and over time in getting laid off. It doesn't make sense to send out another résumé until you have a good idea about what you want to do (unless you need the money - then get any job to make ends meet and learn how to manage your finances better).

This is your chance to figure out what you want. In my Know What You Want Workshop, we emphasize the need to look within (your values, personality, transferable skills, interests, etc.) to figure out who you are, what you enjoy doing and identifying the jobs that fit you. If you want to figure it out on your own, I recommend that you pick up The Pathfinder by Nicholas Lore or What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles or both and work through the exercises in these books before you start sending out resumes. My own experience has shown that looking within works and when you have a clear sense of what you want to do, it's easier for people to help you.

If you do know what you want to do, then begin to network (informational interviews work very well), build the skills that you want to use and market yourself. If you have a hard time selling yourself to prospective employees, read the How to Sell Series. You may also be interested in my book to help you create a viable plan to turn your dream job into reality.

Losing your job is never a fun experience but it can easily become a blessing in disguise if you take responsibility, let go and move on and conduct a QUALITY job search.

If you are feeling stuck or have any questions or advice for people who've lost their jobs, feel free to share it in the comments section.

The post What to Do When You Lose Your Job? appeared first on Embrace Possibility.

I want to be decisive.

Why?

Because decisive people are the ones that change the world and succeed in life. It's hard not to admire someone who is resolute.

So how can we become more decisive?

I used to think that being decisive was about making fast decisions. I never quite understood how someone can be so sure of their decision without fully analyzing all the pros and cons. It seemed a bit reckless to me. I also thought decisiveness was something that comes with age and experience but that has been debunked by my encounters with many young people who are decisive and many older folks who are not.

Having studied the lives of decisive leaders, I found that decisiveness is directly correlated to how well you know yourself and how often you take time to self-reflect. People who are decisive already know what they want and have thought a lot about what is acceptable and not acceptable in their lives long before having to decide. That is why when it comes time to make a decision, they seem sure of themselves. When you clearly know where you stand, it is hard not to be decisive.

How often do you reflect on your values and beliefs? Do you know what is acceptable and not acceptable in your life?

From my experience and while leading the Know What You Want Career Workshop, I have noticed that many people (myself included) rarely take their time to look within. I am so busy with what is going on outside of me that it feels counterproductive to sit and think about who I am. Recently, I have consciously taken more time to learn about myself and I have noticed that I am naturally more comfortable with the decisions I make.

Take some time to self-reflect. It'll save you time in the future.

The post How to Become More Decisive appeared first on Embrace Possibility.

"I want to go for my dream job but I have (fill in obligation - i.e. bills to pay, family to feed, etc.)"

and my answer is:

"I understand. Your dream job can only be your dream job if it fulfills all your wants and needs."

Before you roll your eyes or start booing, let me elaborate.

This question usually comes up in  the beginning of the workshop when I ask the participants if there are willing to commit to pursuing their dream job if they find it.

As with most people, the answer is an obvious "yes" but realistically speaking a resounding "no" because there are bills to pay or mouths to feed. This mindset is the main reason people don't commit to or even think about getting their dream job.

This is the common misconception of a dream job. People believe a dream job is a job where you are doing what you want to do (i.e. I want to be a teacher) but that is only a small factor in what goes in your dream job. A real dream job should take into account your financial goals, the work environment, the people you will be working with in addition to your interests, strengths and personality. It is your dream job because it allows you to live the life you want. If you want to be a teacher and be rich, your dream job is not teaching elementary school.

In the Know What You Want Workshop, we focus on first identifying who you are, then giving you the strategies to research the types of jobs that will fit your criteria and lastly teaching the method to transition from where you are currently at to where you want to be.

If you don't want to or can't afford to take a workshop, you can apply these steps on your own as well. Two great books for this process is "The Pathfinder" by Nicholas Lore and "What Color is Your Parachute?" by Richard Bolles.

I hope this has open up the possibility for you to pursue your dream job!

For more information about the Know What You Want Workshop, contact me by clicking here.

The post Why Getting Your Dream Job is More Realistic Than You Think appeared first on Embrace Possibility.