When one chooses a career they aren’t suited for—they often find themselves frustrated with their work. Dissatisfaction in one’s job can lead to stress and anxiety at work, which impairs cognitive ability. There have been multiple studies that found a correlation between job satisfaction and level of stress, with higher productivity being linked to lower levels of stress. Clearly, choosing a career that will make one more satisfied is extremely beneficial to one’s mental health.
University of South California’s Applied Psychology program claims that “[b]eing happy at work and loving what you do is an overall productivity booster and enhances performance. People who enjoy their jobs are more likely to be optimistic, motivated, learn faster, make fewer mistakes, and better business decisions” (“How Liking Your Job Will Help You Succeed”). People working a job they hate have been found to have worse mental health than people who are unemployed, and work stress has been found to raise risk of heart disease. Working a job you hate has significant negative impacts upon your health, which begs the question, why do people choose to stay?
Though there is plenty of information that suggests a job that makes you happy is important to your well-being, many people struggle with making that step once they have already found themselves in a career. Career change comes with a stigma—many people believing they will receive lower pay or that they won’t be able to change jobs at all. Letting go of a job that has had a lot of time and effort put into is extremely difficult.
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Stephanie Taylor writes that “changed work tasks resulting from new information can trigger people’s hidden personal insecurities, such as fear of judgement or failure” (20). People are inclined to resist great change, as “previously successful outcomes” are associated with dopamine—the “chemical which causes a feeling of pleasure” being released in the brain (Taylor 20). This biologically keeps many people from overcoming their personal barriers out of fear of disrupting their lives. However, data shows that changing careers does not necessarily mean losing everything.
People often assume that changing careers has a high risk of failure, but according to a study done by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), for people “after age 45 […] 82 percent of late-in-career changers were successful” (Kreisberg 13). AIER also found that for 18 percent of career changes “income stayed […] the same,” and half the time there was an “increase in income” (14). Statistically, changing a career is beneficial for financial standing despite many people believing the contrary. The fear of great change is what truly stands in the way of people finding a new opportunity and leaving their comfort zone.
