Every job has its highs and lows. But how do you tell the difference if a low is something deeper that means it’s time for a change?

So here are 5 red flags that I’ve seen and experienced that are signs that it might be time to think about leaving your current job and doing something new…

First one’s obvious…

1. You’re married to the job
   It feels like you spend every waking minute working, or thinking about work. It’s your number one excuse for everything… “I’ve got work” so you’re missing out on family and friends and life because you’re basically married to your job. When your job basically owns you, it’s time to think about what you’re missing out on…
2. You’re not challenged in your role
   You’ve climbed the ladder and you’re well established and any crisis is the same crisis that you’ve managed to get through many times before so you know it’s not really a crisis and you look at others with less experience and understanding of how things work and know that you can run rings around the whole system. It’s just not a challenge any more. You’re bored…
3. You’ve stopped thinking big
   When you started your career you knew you had high capability and could go all the way with your ideas and passion. But at some point you lost that ability to think big because of all the hurdles people put up who don’t have your vision. You figured out they’d rather block you than support you so you’ve stopped with the big ideas…
4. You dread going to work
   You know your heart’s not in it and you’re basically doing it for the money which feels a bit shallow… but you justify it by saying things like “I’m doing it for my family” which means you’re being a martyr… and somehow that it makes it ok stay in a career that you resent and the reason you stay in it is because you’ve convinced yourself that you have no other options. So you dread going to work.
5. You’ve made it to number 5
   You wouldn’t have listened to this if you weren’t looking for reasons why what you’re doing at the moment is not giving you what you want. Your business skills are valuable and there’s a whole other world of how to make money in a career that doesn’t mean what you’re doing at the moment is the only option…

So, if you feel like it’s time to think about options, check out an info pack on what being a business advisor to small businesses is all about… you might hate it, but at least you’ve made a start… and there’s always the possibility that you might love it too!