Q: I  am  working  with  an  organisation  for past  15  years  in  my  hometown,  which  is  not  a  metro. Due to family commitments, I couldn’t move out to take up lucrative career options. Now  I  want  to  change  my  job  as  I  don’t see any career  growth  in my current organisation, although there  is  lot  of  potential  for  the  organisation  to  grow. My contribution has been acknowledged by the promoters, but has not been translated into career growth.At present I am confused as to what to do,  should  I  move  to  large  city to join  rat  race  of  high  salaries  &  status  or  should  continue  to  work  in  the  same  organisation  with  comfortable  life. Kindly  advice  what  I  should  do  before  it  is  very  late.

A: It seems that you are at a juncture where you are raising more questions than finding answers. It can be difficult when this occurs, at any age, as we begin feeling paralyzed or almost stuck in our own heads, let alone our life. That can be detrimental for one’s personal esteem as well as self-confidence.

To begin with, you must ask yourself, what defines me? Is it my family, my job, respect, money or success? On a scale of 1-10, where does each of these rate? Am I willing to sacrifice one for the other? If you find yourself rating any of the options over a 7, then you know it means a lot to you and you may even be serious about it. However, if you did not rate any of them a 10 on 10, then you might not be serious enough to create change around it. When you are serious, there is no doubt in your mind as to what you want to do.

Your Priority: You must ask yourself, what your priority is: family, career, respect, money or success. What matters that most and are you willing to sacrifice one for the other? When you do not have any doubt in your mind, you will get clarity on your priority and you will be focused around creating momentum around it every single day.

Ease into your path: As you seem unsure about what is right for you, I suggest you do not dive into a drastic move at the onset. This is the time for inner investigation of your life goals and future plans with clarity and renewed vision. Ease into your path naturally, whatever it may be. In other words, begin thinking and getting excited about a possible new journey ahead of you, rather than a definite outcome at the point.

Take the plunge: Speak to your friends who work in metros and see how you would feel if you were there? Try contacting employers and setup a few interviews. You must also find out whether you require new skills in order to work in other city or industries. The purpose of this is to see if after all this time, can you actually adjust in a new environment, a new company dynamics and most importantly, away from your family.

Whether you fester up the courage to go back to your organization and ask for a raise or venture anew, you want to ensure that you don’t fall into the same fix. Remember, familiar territory is always comforting, especially when you have spent years there and are used to a particular work style and people ethic of an organization.  So be clear as to why the current circumstance is, whether you are genuinely committed to change, and how the future will be different.

Bina Jhaveri has over 20 years of global professional experience, as reputed business consultant, an intuitive strategist, executive and spirit coach. She works with professionals from several corporates, forging unique partnerships, helping them attain and exceed their goals whilst generating path-breaking results within their lives. Bina is also a writer by passion, who writes for several lifestyle magazines & blogs.

*The ideas expressed are the writer’s personal opinion and are not being made in any official capacity.