I don’t like my job but it pays well. What should I do?

I’ve been working for 10 years in my current industry. I’m in a position where I earn well and feel fairly secure in my career. But I don’t enjoy it. I’ve worked in different companies and roles, but I’m at a point where I don’t find the work in this industry fulfilling. I feel stuck. It’s good money. It’s allowed me to build up significant savings and a comfortable financial life. I have a few ideas of different industries I think I’d enjoy more, but pursuing that would require a big step back in terms of pay, at least short term. How do I balance my desire for financial success and career fulfilment?

There are different angles to this, and it’s about finding one that resonates with you. Here are questions to ask yourself that might help:

The point isn’t of life isn’t to make the most money, so don’t feel tied down to a well-paying job.Credit: Simon Letch

1. What is money for? Having worked with people at all stages of their financial lives, I’ve noticed something interesting. Those who aren’t doing so well financially sometimes have more courage, determination and willingness to take risks than those who have more means to take risks.

Initially, you feel like you’ve got nothing to lose. So you work hard, you take risks that don’t make logical sense. Maybe you apply for a job that feels out of your league. You hustle.

As time goes on, people tend to become more conservative in their willingness to take risks. Now it feels like you have something to lose. You worked so hard to get here, you don’t want to “throw it all away”. You feel the need to hang onto everything you’ve worked so hard to create.

But didn’t you create that success to give you more choices, more freedom, more options? Is the point to accumulate financial success just so that you can say you did? Or would you rather use that financial success to help you create a life that you find fulfilling?

Not everyone gets the opportunity to pursue work that feels fulfilling. For many, work is a means to survival.

We get so attached to the status we think our bank balance gives us that we forget that the point isn’t of life isn’t to make the most money. The point of money is to make the most of life.

Remember that success is multidimensional, not just financial or professional. Some years, success might mean progress financially. Other years, you may go backwards financially to progress in other areas of your life – health, family, etc.

You’ve worked hard to create the financial security that gives you the ability to take options you couldn’t otherwise afford to take. Now it’s about having the courage to take those options.

2. How can you take calculated risks? Courage and recklessness are different things. I’m not recommending you quit your job tomorrow without any back-up plan.

While in your current position of financial stability, start doing things that would expose you to other industries or lines of work that you might find interesting. This could be going to networking events after work or doing a short course.

The more you expose yourself to alternative paths of work, the clearer you’ll be on whether that is a viable option for you and the steps you would need to make the transition.

3. How can you create financial security outside a job? It’s unclear whether you’ve started investing, but investing can help increase your financial security by creating income streams independent of your job.

This allows you to take roles regardless of how much they pay you. So while you have a great salary, use that to your advantage by building streams of income that are independent of your job through investing.

4. Is it your work? Or is it something else? Sometimes people think it’s their job, but they’re just unhappy with themselves and their lives.

Maybe they’re burnt out, or they’ve been in an unsatisfying relationship, or there are other aspects of their lives that feel harder to change, so it becomes easier to focus on the job.

If you changed your job but kept everything else the same (your relationships, physical and mental health, social life, hobbies), would you feel more fulfilled?

What you do for work takes up a solid chunk of how you spend your life. Not everyone gets the opportunity to pursue work that feels fulfilling. For many, work is a means to survival. But if you’ve taken care of survival and have the opportunity to pursue work that is more fulfilling, that’s a shot worth taking.

Worst-case scenario, you end up back in an industry where you have a decade of great experience. It sounds to me like the potential upside is far greater than the potential downside.

Paridhi Jain is founder of SkilledSmart, which helps adults learn to manage, save and invest their money through financial education courses and classes.

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

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