How to Reignite the Spark Within Your Career
A few weeks back I shared a blog post about why so many high achievers feel like they’ve “lost their spark” within their career. This feels not only totally uncharacteristic of them, but acutely terrifying.
Well, this week’s blog goes out to Erika, who said in the comments, “This resonates with me 1000%. I would love advice on what to do to get that spark back.”
Erika, I’ve got you! Here’s all the basics you need if you’re looking to reignite the spark within your career.
Typically, when it feels like you’ve lost your spark at work, 1 of 3 reasons is behind it:
General burnout
HOW you’re working
WHAT you’re working on
Let’s talk about all of them and what to do.
Burnout
If you’re feeling burned out in your career, you’re definitely not alone. It seems like everyone these days is struggling with burnout! Especially with the pandemic these last few years and the great resignation leading to people “covering” for multiple jobs. Add on top of that the broader issue that high achievers have establishing boundaries (because they like being known as the “reliable” one on the team), and boom… You’ve got a recipe for disaster!
Here are my thoughts if you’re struggling with burnout:
First and foremost, I do think it’s important to be gentle with yourself. Times have been particularly challenging lately, so if you’re feeling exhausted by the state of the world, I don’t blame ya! Sometimes when we’re feeling particularly overwhelmed, all we can handle is simply staying above water. If you’re in that place, try your best to be patient with yourself and know that it’s normal.
Beyond that, if you’re struggling with boundaries, I’d encourage you to ask yourself “is there anything I could do to change things?” Really noodle on this. Are there changes you can make? Would the company be receptive to the changes if you tried?
Ultimately, all boundary issues come down to 2 elements:
You, and your willingness to set boundaries
The company, and their willingness to respect those boundaries
So in any challenging boundary equation, we simply need to do the math to clarify the contributing factors. Perhaps you feel uncomfortable pushing back and setting boundaries because you feel like saying “yes” to everything is a requirement of being a good employee… Maybe your boundary issue is 70% you, 30% the company. Alternatively, maybe you’ve been trying to establish those lines, but your company continues to ask for more and more and more, not honoring your boundaries and expecting each employee to operate at 100%. If that’s the case, your split might be more like 5% you, 95% the company.
Either way, it can be helpful to understand the breakdown here. Because a truly empowered approach to burnout focuses on asking whether there is anything you can do to make things more manageable in the meantime, and if not, asking whether you’re OK with that. Are you willing to stay at that job if there’s no way to improve things? Could you go somewhere else and do similar work with better boundaries?
^Those are essential questions to start with, in my opinion.
HOW You’re Working
I categorize all career challenges into 1 of 2 buckets: what you’re doing, and how you’re doing it. If you have an issue with what type of work you’re doing as a whole (AKA: you’re not engaged by the content of your work), you can move on to the next section. If you’re having an issue with how you’re working (anything logistics based, such as pay, location, what your manager is like, what your team is like, company culture), this is for you.
How issues stink, but in semi good news, they can also be one of the easiest problems to solve. Often, if someone is struggling with a how issue, that means that they’re engaged by the content of their work. That’s wonderful, because they don’t necessarily need to have a larger existential investigation around “what do I even like and what would make me happy?”. Lucky you!
If you’re having a logistics-based issue due to how you’re working, these are the most common solutions I see:
Either you make tweaks internally to alleviate the issue (such as changing teams to work with a different manager, if your manager is the pain point)
Or, if there’s nothing you could do internally to fix the problem, you consider moving to do the same role at a different organization.
Option 1 is better for those of you who have a challenge that can be solved by existing tweaks, and option 2 is typically better for those of you who have true “irreconcilable differences” at your org.
WHAT You’re Doing
Now, if you’re feeling like you’ve lost your spark within your career due to what type of work you’re doing (the content of your work), you’re not alone! In my experience, this is the #1 reason behind a “lost spark” for most people, and it’s the backbone of what I discussed in my article about high achievers losing their spark.
It’s possible that you feel like you lost your spark, when in reality there was never really a spark to begin with. Maybe you simply enjoyed the feeling of climbing the ladder and were motivated by that opposed to the work itself.
If you’re having the realization that you’re not engaged by the actual work you do day-in and day-out (and you have no idea what would actually make you feel happier) don’t panic! There are 3 steps I take all clients through who are struggling with this:
Releasing the pressure of what you should be doing
For starters, it’s important to clarify how you’ve gotten so off-base in your career. Why have you been focusing more on climbing the ladder than actual career fulfillment?
Clarifying what you actually desire
Once you’ve come out from under the pressure of people-pleasing your way through your career, then you can begin to define what’s actually engaging to you! This focuses on establishing your overarching “purpose statement” for your career, as well as your “must haves” list of logistics needs.
Reflecting on what that means for your career
After you’ve done all of the above, you can begin to talk about next steps!
Now, for what it’s worth, this is about the highest of high level overviews I could give, mainly because these 3 steps can take up an entire blog post to themselves. I’ll be sharing a more in depth look at these steps in an upcoming blog, but in the meantime, if you want to learn more, you can watch my free workshop with walks through all of these steps and my entire process with clients in depth! Just click here to register.
“What if I’m a combination of all 3?”
Last but not least, you might be thinking to yourself, “I think my lost spark is due to a combination of these issues…what do I do?!”
If you are, here’s the deal: if any part of your lost spark is due to WHAT you’re doing, I recommend starting with addressing that issue first. It’s likely the larger, most fundamental issue, which is why it’s important to begin here. Otherwise you’ll simply be making small tweaks that operate as a bandaid, opposed to fixing the deeper wound.
So, Erika (and all of you out there who were wondering the same question), there you go! I hope that breakdown helps give you an idea of where to start. Step #1 is always identifying the issue behind your lost spark. That will allow you to chart your path forward.
If you’re feeling like you’ve lost your spark within your career, I’m sorry. I know just how overwhelming and scary it can feel! But for what it’s worth, as someone who has not only been there, but has helped many clients through the same thing these last 6 years…you’re not alone. It’s possible to make it through to the other side. I promise.
If you want some support on your path towards reigniting your spark, I’m here to help! You can check out my free workshop, our self-paced Purpose Chaser School program, or apply for a call to explore 1x1 work here. Any way you slice it, I’ve got you.
To reigniting your spark!