Changing Jobs? How Counselling Can Help With the Big Life Decisions

Thinking of a New Job? A Complete Career Change Perhaps?

Are you feeling stuck in your current job? Maybe you’re bored or frustrated with your manager. Perhaps constant organisational changes have left you feeling fed up. Or maybe you’ve never pursued that dream job you’ve always wanted, even if you’re not quite sure what it is.

Before you start dusting off your CV, take a moment to reflect. Sometimes, it’s not about changing jobs but about changing your approach to life. What is the core desire behind your wish for change?

Start With Self-Reflection

Here are some effective ways to begin your self-reflection:

Keep a Daily Log

• Write down everything you do each day for a week. Yes, everything – both at work and outside of it. At the end of the week, take a step back and reflect. What activities did you enjoy? What gave you a sense of satisfaction or energy? What didn’t you enjoy? What caused tension in your body? What tasks did you procrastinate on, and how much of that do you really need to do? Can you identify patterns in your good and bad days?

  
  

Identify Your Core Values

• Figure out your values. Values are the principles or ideas you hold dear, such as creativity, authenticity, or community. They can guide you in living the life you desire. Our values are personal, and many exercises can help you identify them (a quick Google search will yield plenty of options). Ask yourself: How often am I living by these values? Does my work support or hinder them? Sometimes, it’s not the job that needs to change, but aspects of your life outside of work that could help you fulfil your values.

  
  

Assess Your Work-Life Balance

• Check in on your work-life balance. Does work need to stay at work? Perhaps you need to establish better boundaries that allow you to say no more often. Working at 110% effort often has negative consequences for you, with limited benefits for your employer. Do you really need to give that extra 10%? Would even 70% do?! Also, consider how you’re looking after yourself. Maybe your job is quite good, but the way you manage stress needs some thought.

  
  

Reflect on Your Childhood Dreams

• Go back in time. What did you want to be when you grew up? What activities did you love? Sure, the time may have passed to become an astronaut, but perhaps you craved the thrill of working on exciting projects, or you once loved stargazing and no longer have time to do it. Maybe you enjoyed solving problems or letting your imagination run wild, but now there’s no outlet for those passions. There might be opportunities within your current role to express those parts of yourself if you ask for them.

  
  

The Importance of Self-Understanding

Many clients bring existential questions into counselling: What’s my purpose? What will make me ‘happy’? They also face challenges with work relationships, stress management, and the fundamental belief of not feeling good enough. The more someone understands themselves, the more empowered they feel to make different choices. This doesn’t always mean jacking in their job.

If you're considering a significant life change, try counselling first. It provides a space to examine what you truly want and explore the choices that might best meet those needs. If you’d like to talk about this more, feel free to contact me at suzehowellcounselling@gmail.com or through the contact form here..

A printed version of this article appeared in the January 2026 edition of the *Post Community newspapers