7 Signs That You Probably Need to Pivot Your Career Path

In case you didn't notice, I have recently rebranded my blog and changed the logo. It's been a while since I thought that the previous slogan “beau-beauty-travel” is no longer relevant since I start writing more and more posts with the theme outside those topics. Now, I've started fresh with a new tagline: your one-stop traveltainment.

Rebranding my blog gave me the idea to write about pivoting careers in the new post. Not only that the decision to repurpose my blog is pretty much similar to the change of career path. Both are hard, but needed at some point.

You probably noticed that I like to write about various topics about working from home or blogging. That's what I want to incorporate in the new The BeauTraveler.

I no longer just want to share my dating failure or some travel mishaps with you, but I also want to bring values for those who probably are on the shoes that I was in. And that's when the idea of pivoting for this blog came up.

Table of Content

Pivoting Your Career: Is It Possible?

I am living proof that it is totally possible to change your career. If you ask me what I am, I would say that I'm more like a generalist than a specialist. I know a lot of stuff, but not deep enough to call myself an expert.

During my university years, I worked freelance in event management, mainly for the wedding. After graduating, I started my journey in the aviation industry. I worked both as a guest service assistant, as well as a flight attendant.

It took me a few years until I decided to move on and started my professional journey in the education sector. At the time, I moved back to my hometown and worked for a notable English school here. Then I moved to Jakarta to start the challenge in the corporate world… That I ended up to loathe.

Fast forward to today, I'm now jack of all trades who work as a copywriter, sometimes a graphic designer. At the same time, I do social management for most of my clients as well. So yes, pivoting your career is possible!

The idea to write the post about changing your career path also comes because of my sister. My sister is considering quitting her job, but she's unsure whether it is time to pivot or whether she should.

7 Things to Identify Whether or Not You Should Change Your Career Path

My sister is currently working in the advertising industry. She works days and nights, even though she's currently working from home due to the quarantine.

To give you a context, she already started working a few hours before I woke up. And when I turned off my laptop to mark that I'm done, she's still working on hers. Some days, she literally works for almost 24 hours. If that's not slavery… But then again, we live in Indonesia where things like that are normalized.

In a world where everything needs money to survive, changing your career could also mean changing your life.

In a world where everything needs money to survive, changing your career could also mean changing your life.

That's why I decided to write a piece about the signs that maybe you should consider changing your career path. In a world where everything needs money to survive, changing your career could also mean changing your life.

So in this post, I want to pinpoint the signs that could enlighten you whether or not you should consider pivoting your career path.

1. You surround yourself with negativity.

Trust your gut because energy never lies. I could list some motivational shit, but then again, it's you who decide for yourself. You know yourself better. More often than not, your intuition will tell you whether you should stay or move on.

What happened to me when I decided to quit my office job was that I felt like everything I did was wrong, and it made me angry every single time.

I woke up wishing I was dead, only to meet my asshole boss at the office, who would force me to stay late for his unnecessary lecture. Every time I entered my workplace, I always had something terrible to think of. And it took me a while until I realized that it wasn't healthy.

A toxic job with a horrible boss is really not the right combo, to begin with. Looking back, I'm just glad that I quit before it was too late.

2. You start questioning your own capabilities.

Everything isn't for everyone. I've learned this the hard way in one of the corporate jobs that I had years ago. I'm maybe a jack of all trades when it comes to things that I do now, but I've learned that I don't have to know everything over time.

At the time, I was working for a multinational company and designated as a strategic account executive. My mentor was a great salesperson who could sell millions of dollars for the company. And on top of that, she's also a great person that I looked up to.

At first, I had to handle the accounts for academic institutions. But after a while with the company, I was transferred to manage clients in the Banking and Finance sector. Everything went downhill ever since.

I sent an e-mail to a potential client with the freaking wrong tone with a misunderstanding as a result. My mentor saved me from the mess, but it didn't help me heal the trauma of saying the wrong things to the wrong person.

I got anxious every time I had to cold call the number on the clients' list. As if it wasn't bad enough, by the time I had a meeting with them, I felt lost.

I started wondering whether the job was for me. I felt uncomfortable doing things that I should be doing as a part of my daily job. And whenever I attended a meeting or an event related to the job, I knew that's not where I belong.

Quitting was a relief until I realized that I had to move from a great mentor that I highly respect and inspire me in every way, to an asshole boss. But then again, what is life if not a choice?

3. You barely have time to rest.

I can't stress enough how much rest is needed, no matter what you do. And it's a red flag when you don't get enough rest because of your work.

Taking some time to rest is like a domino effect on your well-being. How could you even expect to do the best at work, if you barely sleep 5 hours a day? Enough rest could only mean more energy to put into your job. As simple as that.

Self-care isn't just taking a bath in some fancy bathtub. It's also having enough sleep to recharge your energy.

4. You've lost focus on things that are not related to your work.

Pay attention to the time when you feel like the world revolves around your job. This is actually the main reason why I think my sister should resign from her job.

Imagine, she's now at home, yet we almost couldn't feel her existence because she works all the time! And her lifestyle is so self-destructive that she drinks caffeine excessively, and she could smoke 3 freaking packs of cigarettes… In a day!

Life is not just your job. Life is also about living with your surroundings.

5. You complain more than you gain.

There is no such thing as a perfect job. I can speak for myself because no matter how much I think I love my current job, there are times that I feel like I don't have the motivation to do things. There are times when I also have to deal with some client drama. And that's okay.

You can't win everything in life, ups and downs are just a part of your career. But you need to take things seriously when the ratio of you complaining about things are a whole lot more than you do your work with a clear mind.

Building your career is to expect yourself to level up. Does it trigger you to be a better professional? Or better yet, is it adequate to also make you a better person? In the ideal world, you would gain from both perspectives.

But then there are times when you feel stuck that you don't feel like you gain in any way when you stay there. If that's the case, maybe you need to find a new thing that will allow you to level up, both as a professional and an individual.

Open your eyes with various opportunities in front of you, keep faith that there's always room to grow. When you feel like there's none in where you are, maybe it's time to move on.

6. You start second-guessing its worth for your well-being.

In the first few years of my career since I got my bachelor's degree, I genuinely believed that I'm a people person. I mean, I was.

My professional job was related to customer service, and dealing with people was my thing. I definitely loved meeting new people, and it was my personal reward when I could help them in any way. It was just my nature.

But who am I kidding? After a while, I just kinda got sick of it. I was so sick of having to treat passengers as if they were king. And you know how many people with shitty personalities out there, living their best lives? Plenty! I got to the point where I'm just sick of meeting people.

Some people drained me mentally, and I didn't think it's good for my well-being. It's easier to maintain when we talk about the external party like passengers, who you would meet for just once in a while.

What if the people who drain you are the people you have to deal with daily? That is when I thought it was the best time to leave, and am I not thankful for that?! I'm ecstatic!

Open your eyes with various opportunities in front of you, keep faith that there's always room to grow. When you feel like there's none in where you are, maybe it's time to move on.

7. You just hate your job.

Hate is a strong word, but it isn't impossible to dislike your job so much that you start to hate yourself. Whether you hate it because you feel like it's not aligned to who you are or simply hate the person you're dealing with, things like that are valid. It happens way too often in the workplace.

How many of you got to this post because you're considering to pivot your career simply because you hate your current job? Now, how many of you are here thinking about your boss, who's simply a bitch? You are not alone. I've been in both situations.

You've probably heard the cliche about how people leave their managers more often than they leave the companies. And it's freaking true. Speaking from my experience, I could stay in a job with terrible pay for years although I hated the job simply because I had a great mentor who helped me to grow.

Given a horrible manager, I quit before my probation period ended. That's why human interaction is essential for me to choose my career now.

As much as I need the money to make ends meet, do people who work with me treat me like humans? Do they even understand the process before pinpointing the mistake I've made?

Food for thoughts, because that's the thing that is essential for your career, which is also related to your growth as a person. You're a human, not a robot.

So, Should I Change My Career Path Now?

By now, you should already know the answer. But I understand that some other considerations maybe stop you from moving on.

Perhaps you want to change your career path, but you're afraid to let go of the monthly income that you make from your current one. Or maybe you're just scared to adjust your life with the change that would occur when pivoting your career.

Remember, life is a choice, and change is never comfortable. You know yourself better. Try to see a bigger picture, and decide what's best for you. If you're not sure what to do, it's also worth trying this DISC assessment to understand more about your personality and how to enhance your skills and talent in a prospective career path.

So, are you ready to change your career path? Share your thoughts in the comment, and cheerio! 🙂