“I have no idea what I’m doing with my career”

“I’ve been doing the same job since I graduated (I’m a teacher), and I feel stuck. I don’t feel like I have any motivation to progress and try to become a department head, and I dream about switching careers, but I have no idea what I want to do and don’t know where to start in terms of figuring it out. Is it too late to change my work-life completely? I don’t have any qualifications in anything else, but I feel totally lacking in enthusiasm for what I’m doing now.”

Ellen Scott, Stylist’s acting digital content director and author of the upcoming book Working On Purpose: “You are absolutely not alone in feeling a lack of big ambition. If you need proof of that, just look at the stats: Gallup reports job engagement has hit an 11-year low, while 90% of the UK’s employees are apparently quiet quitting. Last year, Fortune declared that US workers had entered a ‘quiet ambition’ era, defined by a desire for personal fulfilment rather than ticking off career goals. It’s very, very normal not to want to progress in the same linear way that we’ve been told we ‘should’ want, especially when you consider how unappealing many senior roles appear.

“It’s also very normal to not have a clue what you want to do with your life. In my work as a journalist specialising in the world of careers, I’ve heard from so many women who still aren’t sure what they want to be when they grow up… and these women are well into their 40s and 50s. But just because these feelings are normal and common doesn’t mean that we should just accept them. I believe that work absolutely can fulfil us; we shouldn’t put up with a job that’s boring or demotivating. I would encourage you to carve out some time to think about what you really want, with a focus on meaning. Are you content with a job simply being a job, and thus finding meaning elsewhere? Or do you want your career to be your main source of purpose? Knowing the answer to that question is an essential first step, as only then can you decide how to move forward.

“Ask yourself what excites you about work. What gives you a reason to get out of bed in the morning? When do you feel like you’re doing something that matters? See if these are things that can be found within your current role (in which case, the answer might be a simple mindset change of orienting yourself more towards these aspects of your job), outside of work, or in a different career entirely. It’s absolutely not too late to change either the way you work or the kind of work you’re doing.”

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