Maybe you don’t hate your career.
Maybe you’re just spending too much time doing things that drain you.
It’s an easy distinction to miss.
You can have a good job, a decent salary, a strong title—and still feel exhausted at the end of every week.
Before you decide you need a completely new career, try something simpler.
Take 10 Minutes to Understand Your Energy
Grab a piece of paper.
Draw a line down the middle.
On one side, write:
ENERGY CREATORS ⚡
On the other:
ENERGY DRAINERS 🪫
Now be completely honest.
What gives you energy?
Maybe it’s:
➡️ Meeting people
➡️ Solving complex problems
➡️ Building something new
➡️ Leading a team
➡️ Learning new skills
➡️ Creating ideas
➡️ Helping others succeed
Now look at the other side.
What drains you?
Maybe it’s:
➡️ Endless meetings
➡️ Repetitive administration
➡️ Working alone all day
➡️ Constant firefighting
➡️ Micromanagement
➡️ Work you simply don’t enjoy
There’s no right or wrong answer.
The important thing is noticing the pattern.
Now Look at Your Current Job
Here’s where the exercise gets interesting.
Ask yourself:
Which column gets most of my time?
If most of your working hours are spent doing things that drain you, it’s understandable that you’re questioning your career.
But maybe you don’t need a completely different career.
Maybe you need a different role.
A different environment.
More responsibility.
Less administration.
More creativity.
More people interaction.
Or simply more of the work that makes you feel engaged.
Being Good at Something Doesn’t Mean You Have to Love It
This is something many professionals overlook.
You can be extremely good at something and still dislike doing it every day.
Your skills don’t automatically determine your ideal career.
Your energy matters too.
Because eventually, doing work you’re good at—but constantly dislike—can become exhausting.
And If You’re Job Searching…
Don’t only ask:
“Can I do this job?”
Ask another question:
“Will I actually enjoy doing this job?”
Look beyond the salary and job title.
Ask about:
- The day-to-day responsibilities
- The team structure
- The manager
- The working environment
- The type of problems you’ll solve
- The amount of collaboration
- The opportunities to learn and grow
Because the job description tells you what the company needs.
It doesn’t always tell you what your everyday life will feel like.
Your Next Career Move Should Feel Better Too
A career move shouldn’t only look impressive on LinkedIn.
It should make sense for you.
More money is great.
A better title is great.
But if you spend every Monday morning dreading the week, something is still missing.
Sometimes the answer isn’t:
“I need a new career.”
It might simply be:
“I need more energy creators in my workday.”
That’s a very different problem—and potentially a much easier one to solve.
Final Thought
Before making a major career decision, spend 10 minutes understanding what actually gives you energy.
You may discover that you don’t hate your career at all.
You may just need to change what you spend your time doing within it.
Your next career move shouldn’t just look better on LinkedIn.
It should feel better in real life too.
You’ve got this! 👊
#CareerGrowth #ExecutiveSearch #Recruitment #Technology
