If you are at a stage in your career where you are feeling stagnated? Or if you feel that you are going on a journey but your ultimate destination is unknown to you? Or if you have to drag your soul to the work every day with a lot of effort? Then you could be going through a mid-career dilemma, the first thing you should do is stop worrying about it and acknowledge it, a lot of working professionals go through it and there is nothing wrong with you.
Perhaps there are certain questions in your mind related to various aspects of your life and you need to simply answer them to march ahead with confidence. Let's look at the top 5 reasons why working professionals go through mid-career dilemmas?
- Am I in the right job? Am I missing something? One of the most common puzzles that working professionals have in their mind is I in the right job? Am I am missing something? Though there is no perfect answer to this question not answering this question at all often leads to a mid-career dilemma.
- The fear of missing out or FOMO refers to the feeling or perception that others are having more fun, living better lives, or experiencing better things than you are. It affects self-image; self-esteem and leads to feelings of restlessness, false comparison, and anxiety. What we see of others in social media may also one of the reasons why people often feel fear of missing out and it could be one of the reasons that lead to mid-career crisis.
- Downplaying own skills, knowledge and competence: In order to achieve the best result in the shortest span of time a lot of working professionals start copying and focusing on what skills, knowledge and competence they do not have and start acquiring those without realising that in the process they are downplaying their own skills, knowledge and competence and by the time they realize that they have not used their own capabilities the opportunities which in front of them vanish and they are not able to course correct at the right time. This could be one of the main reasons that lead to a mid-career crisis.
- Self-confidence has taken a hit: Self-confidence is one of the most vulnerable elements of any individuals, life and it can often get a blow due to various reasons such as making mistakes, not able to cope with the new manager, peer pressure, work environment or due to a change in the job expectation. Lack or drop in self-confidence for a long period of time creates doubts both various aspects and it could be one of the key factors that lead towards the midcareer dilemma.
- Fear of humiliation among more successful colleagues: Each and every working professional wants to be successful in life and they strive for success each day of their life; similarly, each organization has a very defined framework to judge the individuals based on the performance and behavioral competencies required.
A few are able to score well on those parameters and move ahead in the career while other stays at the same point and due to lack of reasoning and explanation are given to the individuals who have not been able to score well around those parameters a lot of doubts get created in their mind and this often leads to a feeling of humiliation and ultimately becomes one of the key contributors that causes a mid-career dilemma.
Mid-career dilemma is a very common point that can come to a professional's life at any stage after working for three-five years in a professional environment but it is important to understand the key reason that is leading towards the mid-career dilemma.
The writer is Abhishek Joshhi, Executive Coach, Learning and Development Expert