5 Clear Signs it’s Time to Change Jobs Now

Hey everyone, this is Cody Nickol with Work Growth Thrive. It’s a beautiful day in Atlanta, Georgia, and I’m going hiking in the forest. I thought I would give you some tips on how to grow and thrive in the workplace. Today’s format is a little different. I received an email from someone named Anjum who wanted my advice about her current situation.

So let me read this to you. “Dear Cody, do you have any advice for new mothers returning to the workplace? I used to work 16 hours a day for over 10 years. I then had a risky pregnancy and got postnatal depression, and everything I worked hard to build up seemed to disappear.

When I came back to work, my boss seemed annoyed that I took maternity leave. Instead of finding a temporary replacement, he distributed my tasks among three other employees. So I pretty much came back to a “nothing” job. All I have to do is proofread documents, but any substantive comments I make are ignored without explanation.

I also mentioned to my boss that I would like to transfer to another city, which is about one and a half hours away, so that I can have more support from my family to help with my kid. But my boss said I would be demoted from a core to a collateral member if I made this move. It’s like I’m being put on garden leave.

I usually know how to handle situations, but this time I feel overwhelmed. I feel really lost. Do you have any helpful advice?”

5 Signs It’s Time to Change Jobs

Well, the first thing I want to talk about is clear signs that indicate it’s time to get another job. That will be the first part of this video. Then, for the second part, I want to talk to you about some ways to bolster and take care of your mental health.

1. Your Job Does Not Help You Reach Your Potential

One red flag that it’s time to get a new job is when your current job is not helping you reach your potential. You are a skilled and talented worker with over 10 years of experience, and you can contribute a lot to any employer who values you. It seems that you have outgrown your tasks and are only doing menial work.

2. Your Job Limits Your Growth and Productivity

Anything you try to contribute is ignored, which is a clear sign that your growth and productivity are limited by your environment. Not only are there no longer opportunities for you to develop, but the way your boss treats you also restricts you. You don’t have any substantive tasks, and anything you do try to contribute is being ignored. So not only can’t you grow, but now you’re being limited and restricted.

3. There’s a Lack of Trust

Another major issue is trust. If there are trust issues in the workplace, it’s a big red flag, and it’s time to consider leaving. Your boss saying that you’ll be changed from a core to a collateral member is a clear indication that there are trust issues.

4. You Constantly Lack Motivation

It’s not surprising that you’re lacking motivation. It’s clear from your message that you don’t look forward to going to work.

5. Your Health is Suffering

Perhaps the most significant issue is that your health is suffering, and you have many negative feelings. You ended your message to me by saying, “I feel bad,” which is concerning.

How to Strengthen Your Resilience

In this section on taking care of your mental health, we want to consider how to enhance your resilience in this challenging situation.

1. Avoid Negative Situations

Negative emotions cause you to become mentally narrow and limit your cognitive flexibility. When you feel very negative, your body goes into survival mode, which is similar to the fight or flight response. In such situations, you’re not able to think clearly, see the big picture, or come up with creative solutions to problems. So, it’s best to avoid being in a situation where you’re constantly dealing with negative emotions.

They’re making you feel bad all the time. So you really want to plan how you’re going to make this move, how you’re going to change into an environment in which you can grow and thrive, in which your contributions are valued, and you can receive the support and chances that you so much deserve.

2. Enhance Your Experience of Positive Emotions

When in a positive situation you’re more likely to experience positive emotions. That’s wonderful. You’ll have totally different narrative. Frederickson’s broaden and build theory shows us that positive emotions cause upward spirals that ultimately result in your emotional wellbeing, and it also broadens your thought and action repertoires.

So, what do I mean by this? When you’re experiencing positive emotions, you’re more cognitively flexible. You’re able to consider creative options for solutions. You’re no longer in this fight or flight mode. You’re not just trying to survive, but you’re in a position in which you can actually thrive.

It’s important that we experience positive emotions. You can think clearly, you’re able to see the big picture, and as I mentioned before, you’re cognitively flexible, so you can really respond optimally to challenging situations.

3. Use Positive Self-Talk

When trying to enhance your experience of positive emotions, one of the most important things is that you consider what is the narrative you’re telling yourself? What are you telling yourself? You have to pay attention to this as it directly affects your ability to stay resilient and come up with creative solutions in the midst of challenging situations. One of the tenets of cognitive-behavioral therapy is that thoughts affect your feelings, which in turn affect your behaviors.

For example if your have the thought “I’m not good enough”, then that will obviously result in negative emotions. You might feel anxious, you might feel fearful about job security. And then what will happen?Your feelings of insecurity will stop you from acting in a way that actually causes you to grow and thrive. For instance you probably won’t do things like ask for more responsibility that cause you to have more opportunities. So your narrative, what you tell yourself, is very, very important.

Another thing you might be thinking in this situation is, “I’m not valuable.” Well, I want to tell you, your value doesn’t depend on what others think. It doesn’t depend on what your boss thinks, and it doesn’t even depend on what you can do or what you can accomplish. Like you said before, for 10 years, you were doing 16 hours a day. You were doing so much, but hey, now you have a kid, and you’re more limited, and that’s perfectly okay. Your inherent value is because you are a person. It doesn’t have to do with how much you can do, how much you can accomplish.

You know, another thing you might be saying is, “Oh, this situation is just going to last forever.” That’s the thing. When you’re in a negative situation, as I mentioned, you’re not so cognitively flexible, so oftentimes you can’t see the big picture. So you think this situation is never, ever going to end, but I want to tell you it is. This is just temporary. Have a more uplifted view, a more optimistic mindset. This negative situation is not going to last forever.

Summary

Let’s summarize what we talked about today. I hope it was helpful. We covered a few ways to know when it’s time to leave the job. Remember:

1. Your job is not helping you to realize your potential
2. It’s even limiting your growth
3. Trust is an issue
4. You constantly lack motivation
5. Your health is suffering, you lack energy, and you have lots of negative feelings

If this lasts over a long period of time, you know it’s time to change jobs. Another thing is to limit as much as possible the experience of negative emotions and enhance your feeling of positive emotions. To do this, it’s important to pay attention to the narrative that you’re telling yourself. Don’t accept thoughts like “I’m not worth anything”, “I can’t do it”, or “the situation’s gonna last forever”. Instead, tell yourself a different narrative. You are valuable, you are skilled, and you just need to be in an environment that recognizes that, in which you can grow and thrive and reach your potential.

Thank you for watching this video. Remember to subscribe and hit the like button. I also have a little bit of capacity for one-on-one coaching. Come back again soon for some more great content.