6 signs that a job no longer works

Sometimes getting a new job is no longer the answer. We get to the point in our lives when a job no longer satisfies us. Working for someone else doesn’t work anymore. It’s as if we’ve outgrown working for someone else. This is a challenging realization and one that almost every entrepreneur comes to admit.

We want more – but how do we know for sure? How do we even contemplate leaving the workforce? The one thing that provides our security and is like a lifeline for us? Here are 6 signs to let you know that you’re moving on – maybe not today, or tomorrow, but sometime in the future, you will be ready.

1. You have a yearning that won’t leave. In my small business seminars I have asked participants, “how many of you have had a yearning – a calling to do something different with your lives?” Almost all would raise their hands. They didn’t know what the yearning was about – just that it was there.

2. You daydream about being a business owner. You might even have told friends or family about your business ideas. Sometimes you see your idea is now a business that someone else is running.

3. You are working for the “paycheck”. This is another tell-tale sign that the money is not enough. When we get to the point that the paycheck is the main reason we are working, we are getting close to the realization that this job, and perhaps any job, is no longer the answer.

4. You don’t know what business you would start, even if you started one. This is very common and is one of the main reasons people don’t leave their job. What I suggest is that you start an “ideas” journal. Just start jotting business ideas down – you don’t have to do anything else. Once you open yourself to your ideas, they will continue to flow to you.

5. You are unfulfilled in a job – any job. It doesn’t seem to matter how good the job is, how nice your office is or how big the paycheck is. Sooner or later you get that feeling – “this isn’t it.” It’s such a disappointing moment. I know. I’ve been there. I was a “serial” employee – I went from job to job – always good at what I did, but always got to this point and then left for the next job.

6. You have a “reason” you haven’t started or even tried starting a business. We all have them – “It’s not the right time,” “I need to wait until the kids are grown.” “I need more savings”, etc., etc. There will always be reasons. Pay attention to what you are telling yourself – to your thoughts. Take a look at your beliefs – sometimes they stop us in our tracks. I started a business as a single mom and left the workforce cold turkey, after three tries at quitting my job, I must admit. That was in 1998. I’m not saying this is “the way”. What I am saying is that there is no right way – but there is a right way for you.