Feeling Stuck In Your Job - Part II

Stuck

I realize the first post on this subject was very much the "down-n-dirty." It was meant to be. If you are stuck and seeking a way to begin crawling out - AND you read the post and thought, "okay fine, but what should I do, where should I start?"

I suggest you aren't ready to do anything. Why? Probably because you want someone else to do it for you. You want someone to explain how and why. You want someone to hold your hand and guide you through the process. THIS IS YOUR PROBLEM, not that you are stuck somewhere. Getting unstuck and out isn't nearly as hard as it's cracked up to be. What's hard is shifting something within you from the OFF to ON position.

Back to the first post. If you had flipped the switch, the simple suggestions would have appeared to you as a road map. You'd buy into the fact that you have to plot it out, deciding on your next move (read that your next job). However, if your switch remains OFF (I refer to this as being asleep, unaware, and unconscious) then you likely dismissed it as just more blather, useless and not applicable to you. Why? Because there was no guaranteed 5 easy steps to FOLLOW or better yet, no one to feed it to you, spoonful by spoonful.

Before adding more d-n-d suggestions, here's more on why you need to wake up NOW. The concept of the Free Agent Worker (which I write about frequently) is real and here to stay. Take for example jobless recoveries and stagnant real wages. Our labor pool in the US (using a longer term point of view) is declining. Given the law of supply and demand this should be a plus for workers. But no. The number of jobs paying REAL living income and above are NOT increasing. The reason is automation and computerization. Digits. How can this not continue?

Such a joy, so refreshing...

Going forward, supply and demand principles will be applied category by category and not across the board. The d-n-d on this is that you'd better be talented and/or in possession of unique skills and attributes or you'll be swimming in the shallow end of the median income pool where the supply will far outstrip demand. Those splashing around will be hard pressed to save anything, resulting in little or no wealth creation. And the shallow end will get crowded.

Look, there's no silver bullet here. Even if you wake up and get a move on, there's no assurance all will turn out well. And if you stay asleep, doing nothing while waiting for someone to do it for you? Well then be prepared to drift into the shallow end with hoards of others floundering about looking for ways to cover the nut.

Okay, add this to the first post.

• Get training that will enhance your marketability (and don't overlook short term, free, certification courses in niche areas).
• When networking, tell people honestly what it is you are trying to accomplish. Be straight-up and forthright. Don't let your ego take over - no blowing smoke, exaggerating, or embellishing. Just lay it out in your 30 second intro. "Hi, I'm Bob. I'm ________ and I'm looking to move to ________ in order to ________ in 4 or 5 years. I've taken ______ and I am enrolled to be certified as _________. Are you looking for someone that can get the job done?" *
• Until your next move comes about, know that you are still working for your current employer - AND this continues until you are not. Keep doing the do because that's why you are there and anyway, it's in your best interest to keep it so until the the last minute. Again, doing this is in YOUR best interest.

So there, no rocket science just a connecting of dots.

Yah I know, what about the Kardashians, the Duck Dynasty Boys, or the Honey Boo Boo? They're raking it in. They're able to transend the hard knocks and cold reality of a shrinking middle-class and flat wage growth, right?

True. And what's that got to do with you? Anyway, examples like this make my point. I'm not sure about talent or skill sets, but I am sure about uniqueness and marketing machines.

Anyway, is anyone knocking on your door to film a reality show about you trying to keep yourself from drifting into the shallow end? Hummm, I met a guy, that knows a guy, that knows a guy doing something in reality TV...

Wake up. Take charge. It's your ONLY hope.

* Sounds old school and corny, right? No one does that anymore, right? Well, if no one else is doing it, you might just stand out - imagine that.

Travel well.
John Jeffrey Lundell