Is your career really in crisis?

‘Have you had your calling yet?’ …. This is a question being asked in most of the social gatherings be it official or of friends you meet when one is in the age bracket of 35-45 years.  Ironically, when one is beginning to feel settled having built the foundation of his/her career, understanding own’s strengths and interest areas, you find yourself at a cross road, where the most pertinent question is ‘What next?’

Surprisingly, the fact of the matter is that the existing job/professional career is good and is also more often than not well paying to take care of the financial needs!!!!

The situation arises when one starts asking for more meaning to his/her time spent at work. Being working at the same place or possibly gaining proficiency in your field of work after a decade or more of work experience gives you a feeling of ‘been there, done that’ ….What’s new in store for me?

With age by one’s side, there surely is zeal to do lot more, lot if ideas and above all a feeling that I can do something different and better rather than the defined rules set by a job.

This is what experts now have started calling as 'Mid Career Crisis'. Although, the word crisis sounds scary, this stage should on the contrary be termed as ‘Golden Period’ of one’s career because of obvious reasons …. one has gained proficiency over his/her work, has gained recognition, commands a respect and position in the workplace and also now getting more involved in strategic decision making rather than just tactical execution

To successfully and peacefully maneuver through 'Mid Career Crisis', there might not be a one single answer or a ‘one size fits all’ solution. However, there definitely are few suggested steps as I normally would refer them as ‘P-R-I-N-T’ mechanism

1)    ‘P’ Patience  - Understand and appreciate changing job dynamics and responsibilities

In the early to mid stages of your career, you can easily finish five-six, may be ten tasks in a day since most of the things are under your direct control.  The more seniority you get in your job, the more difficult it is to finish tasks quickly…the reason is not that you are no longer capable of doing it but because

• You have delegated tasks and hence are dependent on your team’s/colleague’s actions to complete your tasks
• Strategic rather than tactical : While tactical, day to day tasks can be easily completed , strategic tasks would take more time and hence more patience needed
• Unfamiliar problems would take more time to resolve

Have patience and understand that your role is changing and so would your job responsibilities. At times, speed is not the only thing that matters but also depth of the work you do

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2)   ‘R’ Re-invent your job

As a human tendency, we all feel the way we do our job is the best and there can be no better of way of doing a particular task than how we have been historically doing it. This feeling stems not only from confidence that success in the past gives us but also of being in a ‘comfort zone’

•  Try taking a pause for some time, re-think on some of the tasks you do in a day, lot of them would   either be redundant or can be done differently. Do the re-shuffling of tasks, there always is a scope of picking up new tasks in every organization, especially the ones you had been eyeing for long but for paucity of time, and you could not.  This would not only make you happy but also your boss!!
• Start grooming your next layer : The sooner you do that, the chances are you start working on bigger tasks, which would increase your exposure to various facets of running a business and not just your department
•  Don’t just be an inbox manager - responding to your mails and finishing your to-do list but consciously work on adding value to the tasks you do.

     3)   ‘I’ Invest in yourself: Pick up things you have been wanting to do for long.

These could be your hobbies that you left mid-way in your quest for higher studies or because of demanding job responsibilities. Take time out for your passion for sports, reading, painting or travelling. Acquire new technological skill or a new educational degree. Although in India, we are seeing the trend now increasing but in some of the developed countries, there are executives who go for higher studies during this stage of their career. 

Remember, what you invest in, not only will give you satisfaction today but will also make you better well rounded human being tomorrow. Your profession is just one facet of life not the complete life in itself

4)  ‘N’ Network : In our quest to excel in our work-field, we often forget the importance of networking. While you may be good at maintaining relationships with people in your own department or better still organization, do remember, it’s extremely critical to network with professionals in your industry

Join forums for professional networking, be an active participant in these forums. Remember, these forums are not only important to liaise with different professionals but also, lots of business deal, potential opportunities and also job options which are discussed and closed in these forums.

5) ‘T’ Time bound plan and execution: Don’t make your willingness to start an entrepreneurial venture a style statement as ‘Need to start something of my own’ with no concrete plan or substance behind this statement.

Have a time bound plan for the same with target deadlines for each stage of plan.  If you are convinced that you want to be your own boss, go ahead and execute with complete confidence, zeal, effort and commitment. All it takes it takes is discipline, hard work effort and above all a can-do attitude!!!

Remember, this is the Golden stage of your career!!!  If you continue to stick on your working principles and adapt yourself with changing need of the hour, you are there to be a winner with all the positives on  your side, whether be it in your job or business.