"Scott, what do you do when your job makes you miserable? Like, you dread waking up miserable."
My response? You quit.
Simple as that, right? No, of course it isn't. But it's a start to the dialogue to give someone the confidence that they're not alone, and that there is going to be light at the end of the tunnel at some point.
I get a text or a phone call like this almost every week. I don't think people are looking for 1:1 perfect answers to solve their challenges, but I do believe that people want to know they have an outlet. Just by talking about it, I believe it helps to normalize the way people are feeling.
I don't care what line of work you're in; talking to anyone, anytime, about the challenges you may be having will always give you positive results. The more you bottle it all up, the more you are only likely to burn out, stress out, and break down.
Most people assume that everyone else has their career figured out, and that they are the only one sitting there staring at the ceiling at 2:00 in the morning, wondering how the hell they ended up in a job that drains the life out of them.
The truth is that far more people are quietly struggling with the same thoughts than you could possibly imagine. They show up to meetings, they smile on Zoom calls, they post the occasional win on LinkedIn, and then they go home feeling completely disconnected from the work they are doing. The outside world sees stability, while the person living inside that reality feels stuck.
This is why the conversation matters so much, because once people start talking honestly about their work and how it is affecting them, the isolation begins to disappear. You start to realize that the feeling you thought was uniquely yours is actually a very common experience that people move through at different points in their careers. Sometimes the answer is leaving.
Sometimes the answer is adjusting your role. Sometimes the answer is simply realizing that the season you are in right now is temporary and that you can start planning your next move.
What I have noticed over the years is that the biggest shift does not happen when someone finally lands the next job. The biggest shift happens when they give themselves permission to acknowledge that something is wrong in the first place. Once that door opens, the energy changes. Instead of silently enduring the situation, they begin thinking about options, conversations they need to have, or risks they might be willing to take to change the direction of their career.
Careers have seasons, and not every season feels good while you are living through it. Some seasons are about learning, some are about earning, and some are about realizing that the path you are on is no longer the one you want to continue walking. None of those realizations makes you weak, and they certainly do not make you the only person dealing with it.
So if you find yourself dreading the alarm clock in the morning, start by talking to someone. A friend, a mentor, a colleague, a coach, anyone who will actually listen. You do not need to solve the entire problem in one conversation, but you do need to stop pretending that you are supposed to handle it alone. Most people are far closer to a breakthrough than they realize, but the first step is simply admitting that the situation you are in is not the one you want to stay in forever.