Career Anxiety And How To Combat It: Career Counseling Orlando
Career Anxiety and How To Combat It. Career anxiety is very real. Do you fine yourself worried that you have chosen the wrong career? Are you struggling to find a job and don’t know where to start? Maybe you feel as if you have chosen the wrong degree or are struggling to choose a degree or certification before starting college. Wherever you are, you are not alone. What you are feeling is normal.
What is Career Anxiety?
Career anxiety is an umbrella term for painful, unpleasant emotions surrounding one’s career. The onset of career anxiety can start as early as before your career has begun. It can start later towards retirement. In American society, we are often taught to define ourselves by what we do, thus our jobs and careers are often seen as a measure of our wellbeing and success. With that being said, when we find ourselves dissatisfied with the work that we do, we can easily make unfair assumptions about our own wellbeing. Our minds are powerful enough to turn a bad day at work into a shortcoming of our own worth.
Career anxiety can be described as constantly worrying that the work your doing is never enough.There is a persistent feeling that you must be perfect. It can be draining and consumes the majority of your mental and emotional energy. We get stuck in cycles:
- Discontentment at Work
- Self-Judgement about Success
- Emotional Overwhelm ness
- Fatigue and Loss of Motivation
This cycle may sound so familiar to you that it feels as if it would be impossible to break. Emotional fatigue can start to become so normal that it is difficult to realize you are tired, however, it is possible to regain the energy spent on career anxiety and find the motivation to pursue avenues for change.
Career Anxiety: Do I need a Career Change?
Changing one’s career might feel like the fastest solution to eliminating career anxiety, however, it can also seem like the most difficult. Of course, in order to make a career change, there has to be a sense of what kind of career might be more functional than the one you are presently in. A career change might be extremely beneficial for some, while for others, the source of their anxiety might be stemming from an internal conflict.
Changing one’s career often involves a significant investment of time and energy, therefore, we owe it to ourselves to explore what it is that we want, as well as what it is that we do not want, before making a drastic decision.
When considering a career change, it is important to ask yourself the following:
- What is it that I do not like about my current circumstances?
- Is my discontentment coming from within myself or from my environment?
- What would I add to this job to improve it?/What would I take away from this job to improve it?
- Can I imagine myself doing something different? If so, what might that something different be?
We tend to stop ourselves from exploring possibilities for the future, based on anticipated roadblocks that might come down the line. When we base our present moment exploration on the doubts we have about the future, we rob ourselves of the creativity and innovation that exists in the present.
By the same token, when we give ourselves permission to explore our present moment experience, We open the door to change and growth. It is important to pause and approach career anxiety with curiosity, rather than harmful self-criticism.
How to Stop Career Anxiety: Career Counseling Orlando
As mentioned above, the first step to overcoming career anxiety is investigating and acknowledging it in the present moment. Beginning therapy to combat career anxiety grants you the opportunity to explore your present frustrations. Also your hopes and/or fears for the future. You can be matched with a professional who is trained to lessen anxiety and promote clarity about the future.
When beginning career counseling, you do not need to know what it is that you want or what it is that you hope to change. A simple acknowledgement that your current level of anxiety is not sustainable is all you need for change. Acknowledging that there is a problem is the foundation for growth.
Therapists providing career counseling will assist you in exploring your anxiety and discontentment. Therapist assist by pointing out thought patterns and assumptions that are no longer serving you. Career counseling Orlando allows you to take control of the energy once consumed by anxiety. You will learn to utilize it for motivation for the future.
Career anxiety does not have to be a forever state of mind. Career anxiety is a temporary state of discontentment. If you have the courage to reach out for support then change is possible. You are not your career and your career is not a measure of your self-worth.
Get Help Today: Start Career Counseling in Orlando
If you or someone you know is struggling with career anxiety, we are happy to answer your questions. Our therapists offer free, 15-minute phone consultations to answer questions. Also to provide you with a chance to get to know your therapist, before booking a first session. Feel free to schedule a phone consultation or session by booking online or call us at (407) 967-1327.
Written by: Hannah Mayderry, Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern
Contact: hannah@therapyhec.com
