When Your Career Doesn’t Progress Well

Researchers have proven that career progress perception plays an important role in influencing an individual’s mood and productivity in the workplace. Whether you’re trying to be more productive in your current schedule or to have aspirations of launching a whole new start-up or a new career altogether, the drive to reach your goals is always aided by the feeling of making progress.

The way a person perceives their current position and recent career progress have a direct effect on their self-esteem, confidence, creativity, and morale. However, many times people are too hard on themselves and they allow their past and present to weigh down on their future.

Here’s I am assuming you did your level best to get that desired career promotion. You have completed the training and upskilling requirements and most importantly you have had expressed your desires towards the career progression multiple times.

I’ll list some of the desperate measures you can take when you’re totally resigned to your fate and don’t know what else to do to bring that happiness and satisfaction to your life.

Here are a few tips you can use when your career doesn’t progress well

Change!

You should change the ship when

1. You don’t feel passionate to come to work every day
2. The inflation beating your raises
3. You have a boss who’s either horrible or doesn’t want to go up the ladder anymore
4. You’re not learning anything new
5. You’re not getting recognized for your good work
6. You’re at the same position just because you’re afraid of change
7. You’re not getting enough time for your family or your other hobbies

No point in waiting forever to have things your way. Maybe already there’s someone else identified or the current incumbent is too valuable to replace.

Put a limit on a number of attempts you’ll need to get that promotion. DO not go beyond this limit and change course.

Getting a promotion doesn’t entirely depend on your performance. There are plenty of other factors on which you don’t have any control.

Just accept such situation and move on. Maybe you’re a perfect fit somewhere else or for someone else. You may get more challenging tasks for your satisfaction at some other place, perhaps at some other company.

If you’re with a big company, moving to another team or division is not very tough. You should try that at the same time when you’re looking outside.

Perhaps, you can move to another city where your employer has a bigger office and a bigger team.

Build a Small Residual Side Income Stream

One of the best ways to start making tangible and motivating progress is to focus some of your free time on building your first residual income stream.

This way your mind gets diverted and you occupy yourself with some other productive work.

If you were putting in extra hours to get noticed and get promoted, you perhaps can redirect those hours towards some money earning activities of your own. There are plenty of side gigs you can do to earn money.

The goal is not to get rich quick or even quit your day job necessarily, but simply going through the process of launching a business will provide valuable experience, and even nominal success will be better than not trying it at all.

Plus, nowadays it’s extremely easy to just base your whole game plan around a basic guide on how to make money online. All the trails have already been blazed for you, so all you have to do is pick a path and get started.

Aren’t you glad you weren’t one of the E-commerce pioneers of a decade or two ago? At least you have a path laid out for you!

Be a Volunteer and Get Satisfied

There are a number of reasons why you may not be looking for a job change or a location change. There can be plenty of reasons for not wanting to create other income streams.

If you have time and want an inner mental satisfaction with what you do, there possibly isn’t a reason you shouldn’t volunteer, especially when your career doesn’t progress well.

As per many surveys, volunteer work gives humans the most satisfaction of achievement. Take some time off from your weekend schedule or perhaps an hour a day. Find that time and start doing something just for the giving.

Help people in need, give your time and skills for some truly awesome cause. Searching for such opportunities may not be very hard and can be searched online.

Make List of Achievements and Bright Sides

Start all over again when your career doesn’t progress well. Look back at the past and think about the projects you delivered, problems you solved. If there’s any doubt or lack of self-esteem, this might help you clear those out.

That nagging thought of self-doubt that scoffs with questions like: “How am I going to pull this off if I wasn’t able to do this or that?”

The best way to get past this hurdle is to jot down all the productive things you have done in the past few years, alongside a list of the major mistakes that you have made.

However, on the second list, you should thoroughly examine the negative points to identify what you learned from those experiences.

At the end of this practice, you should be able to say, “This is what I’ve done, and this is what I’ve learned.”

Do It and Be Done with It

Many times, the real cause of stress is the inability to control the urge to worry about lack of career progression, or in anticipation of an upcoming event, deadline, or other goals or challenges that we have committed to.

When you see the finish line fast approaching and you’re not sure whether you’re going to make it, put your head down and charge forward.

Regardless of what happens, you’ll be in a better position than if you were to spend your time dwelling instead of excelling.

Readers, when work stress is too much to have a balanced life, what usually you do get lifted up and bring happiness back?