Is It Time for a Career Move? Understanding the Difference Between Comfort and Complacency
Are you feeling stuck and unfulfilled in your current career? As a busy professional with a track record of success, it's not uncommon to wake up one day wondering if you’ve really reached your potential or not. It’s okay to feel like you've hit a dead end in your current role and the idea of starting over or changing careers at 40 - or 35, or 45, or anytime! - can seem overwhelming.
But what if I told you that it's not only possible to make a career change at 40, but it's also never too late to pursue a career that brings you energy and purpose?
In this post, I'll share actionable tips and insights that can help you pinpoint if you’re comfortable or complacent and what to do about it. Whether you're looking to make your never career move or completely reinvent your professional life, keep reading to discover how to take the first step toward work that lights you up.
The Key Difference Between Career Comfort and Complacency Is Your Mindset
The key difference between feeling comfortable and being complacent is mindset. Feeling comfortable is a state of mind that allows you to feel confident and competent in your job. Being complacent is a state of mind that prevents you from challenging yourself and reaching new heights. Comfort can generally be a good thing. But complacency can, and will, hold you back from reaching your full potential if that is your aspiration.
“You often feel tired, not because you’ve done too much, but because you’ve done too little of what sparks a light in you.” - Alexander Den Heijer
Prolonged periods of career complacency often lead high-performers to feel negative emotions that impact how we show up at work and how we show up for others in our personal lives. Anger, resentment, low energy, boredom, malaise, hostility, anxiety, and apathy to name a few. If left to fester over time, complacency can completely morph into a victim mentality that seeks to blame others rather than take ownership and commit to making your next career move. Victim mentality is the death spiral that makes it impossible to make a successful career move to work you’re actually excited about.
Feeling comfortable in your career does not necessarily mean that you're satisfied or that you find your work particularly meaningful.
You may be content with your current role but still feel like there's something missing or that you're not living up to your potential.
Feeling too comfortable can prevent you from reaching your career goals because it can lead to living in a state of complacency.
Complacency leads to a lack of ambition and settling for the status quo, rather than pushing yourself to learn and grow. In the long run, this can lead to a range of issues such as boredom, burnout, and an overall lack of motivation.
Signs You Might Be Ready for a Career Your Next Career Move
In my post The Top Signs You're Stuck in Career Complacency and What to Do About It I share 4 signs that you’re too comfortable or even complacent in your career. If you're noticing any of these signs over a prolonged period of time (3-12 months), it may be time to reassess your career goals and take some initial steps toward making a change.
You're not learning anything new: If you're doing the same tasks day in and day out without learning anything new, you may be stuck in a rut.
You're not excited about your work: If you're not passionate about what you're doing, it may be a sign that you're not challenging yourself enough.
You're not setting new goals: If you're not setting new goals or working towards achieving them, you may be complacent.
You're not seeking feedback: If you're not seeking feedback from your colleagues or supervisors, you may be afraid of hearing criticism or unwilling to make changes.
The Importance of Recognizing the Difference Between Career Comfort and Complacency
Recognizing the difference between feeling comfortable in your career and being complacent is crucial to being in control of your career and your confidence. It’s the starting point of making better, more intentional career decisions based on your definition of success. Complacency can limit your opportunities for growth and advancement. If you're not willing to take risks or try new things because you are bored or utterly apathetic, you may find yourself stuck in the same job for years and years without any real progression.
I’ve worked with very successful clients who have crawled their way out of this pit of regret, guilt, and shame. It wasn’t easy and for many of them required seeking professional mental health/therapy support well before beginning the coaching process toward their next career move. There are psychological effects of hating your job. Living with career complacency will negatively impact your mental health and can even spill over into your personal life.
By understanding where you are on the spectrum and taking the necessary steps to move forward, you can achieve your career goals and find work you’re actually excited about. Here are some reasons why it's important to recognize the difference between career comfort and complacency:
It helps you stay relevant
In today's fast-paced, ever-changing job market, it's more important than ever to stay relevant and up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies in your industry. As a mid-career professional, you've likely achieved a certain level of success and may feel that you've found your niche. However, it's important to remember that the world is constantly changing and so are the demands of the job market. What was once a comfortable and stable job may no longer be relevant or in demand. If you're too comfortable, you may be at risk of falling behind and becoming obsolete. If you're complacent, you may be missing out on new opportunities to learn and grow. By recognizing the difference between comfort and complacency, you can ensure that you're always staying ahead of the curve and taking advantage of new opportunities as they arise.
It helps you identify your goals and aspirations
If you're feeling comfortable, you may be content with your current role and not actively seeking out new challenges or opportunities. However, if you're feeling complacent, you may be craving something more, but not sure what that is. By recognizing the difference between these two states, you can begin to identify what you truly want from your career and begin to take steps to make it your reality.
It improves your overall job satisfaction
If you're too comfortable, you may be missing out on opportunities to challenge yourself and feel a sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from doing or learning something new. If you're complacent, you may be feeling unfulfilled and lacking purpose. By finding the right balance between comfort and challenge, you can improve your overall engagement at work and feel more engaged and motivated in your career.
It motivates you to take action
If you're feeling comfortable, you may not be motivated to push yourself out of your comfort zone. However, if you're feeling complacent, you may be more willing to take risks and try new things. By recognizing the difference between these two states, you can assess where you are and begin to take steps forward.
How to Avoid Career Complacency and Stay Motivated to Reach Your Potential
Maybe you feel you might be headed towards being all-out complacent. There’s good news. You can take proactive steps to avoid falling into the pit of career complacency and the negative psychological effects of hating your job!!
1. Recognize the signs of complacency
The first step is to recognize the signs of complacency and determine if they fit your experience over the last 3-12 months. If you find yourself feeling bored or unchallenged in your job, it may be time to consider your next career move. It's important to be honest with yourself about your level of satisfaction and to identify any areas where you may be feeling stagnant or unfulfilled. Keeping a written record of your energy and experience at the end of each week can be a helpful way to spot patterns that supersede the bad days we all experience from time to time.
2. Reassess your goals, interests, and priorities
If you're feeling too comfortable in your career, it’s likely time to reassess your goals, interests, and priorities. Are you truly happy and fulfilled in your current role? Or are you just sticking with it because it's familiar? It's okay to acknowledge that you're ready for a change or that you're looking for new challenges and opportunities. It’s not okay to ignore the fact that your goals and priorities have shifted.
3. Explore new opportunities to learn and grow
Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to embrace new challenges and experiences can ignite a spark. That spark can either energize your efforts and performance in your current role or it can create momentum toward making a change, whether that’s making a career change at 40 or 30 or whatever stage of your career you’re currently in. Attend workshops, conferences, or classes that can help you develop new skills and knowledge. Read books, articles, and blogs that are relevant to your field or interests. Not only will this help you stay current in your industry, but it can also provide new ideas and inspiration. Exploring could mean pursuing a new career path. It could also mean seeking new projects and opportunities in your current role to develop new skills that are in line with your goals, interests, and priorities. It could even mean leveraging your value-add skills and strengths to help others through your own business or side hustle.
4. Overcome Fear of Failure and Embrace Risk-Taking
Don't be afraid to take risks and make mistakes. Failure is a natural part of the learning process and can provide valuable lessons and insights. Challenge your fears, doubts, and perfectionism. Remember that the most successful people have all experienced setbacks and failures at some point in their careers. What sets them apart is their ability to learn from those experiences and keep moving forward. Besides, it’s about time that you establish your own definition of success (and not the one you bought into when you were 18) and begin making more intentional moves toward it.
How a Career Coach Can Help You Get Out of Career Complacency
If you’ve spent hours updating your resume and scouring job boards for inspiration, yet not much has happened in your pursuit to find work you’re excited about, you might benefit from working with a coach for additional support and structure. A career coach can be an invaluable resource for helping you identify new opportunities and ways to challenge yourself.
A career coach can:
Provide guidance, support, and accountability as you navigate the process of making a career move
Guide you in developing greater awareness of your strengths, limiting beliefs, and priorities as you make career decisions
Help you identify new ways to leverage your strengths and grow in your current role to increase your energy in the short- or long-term.
Offer objection observations and insights about your strengths, weaknesses, and potential
Challenge you and help you to identify the ways in which you are holding yourself back in your career or in your career change
Help you brainstorm solutions and ideas to work through barriers and challenges that are inevitable in making a career change
Share proven strategies, tools, and resources for navigating a career change
As a professional career change coach I wear many hats - coach, strategist, consultant, and teacher - in helping my clients to navigate successful career changes and use their strengths to take back control of their careers and their confidence.
My signature strengths-based framework helps mid-career with a track record of overachieving (I call my people “high performers”) get unstuck and into action. My framework takes the guesswork out of figuring out what’s next in your career and how to go get it using a research-based framework.
Pam’s story
“I am grateful to have discovered Allett Career Coaching and Erin when I was investigating a career change. I was in a company for 20+ years, comfortable lacking growth opportunities. I was in a word feeling “stuck” in my own process. - questioning my skills, knowledge, and ability; lacking the confidence to make a shift.
Erin coached to my strengths and challenged me to lean into those as an anchor for change. The method that Erin developed and deployed took me through several different self-paced discovery exercises, practice, and implementation to build a concrete personal plan for change.
Her process works! Coaching with Erin led to real results::
I have learned how to lean into my strengths, lean into change, set goals, and take charge of my future.
I developed the courage to move to another opportunity that is a 180-degree turn from my last and that was because I learned to trust myself again.
I also have the tools now to repeat the process if I choose.
Allett Coaching is the definition of coaching and Erin asked the tough questions that helped me to build confidence, knowledge, and a concrete plan to go after it. I’m only looking forward now.”
Creating a Fulfilling and Successful Career Is a Process
Feeling comfortable in your career can be a good thing. But it's important to recognize when your comfort has tipped the scales and you've become complacent, stagnant, and downright stuck. Being complacent can prevent you from reaching your full potential and can limit your opportunities for growth and advancement.
If you’ve had enough of being in a role living and working below your potential, there are steps you can take! As a mid-career professional, it's important to stay motivated, continue learning, and be willing to take risks and try new things. With the right mindset and approach, you can avoid complacency and be successful in changing careers at 40 or at any age.