Thinking About Quitting Your Job,
Yet Again? (cont’d)
dating a new person, most people do
not expect it in their careers, or are
even surprised by it.
When Philip starts to experience the
inevitable process of adaptation, his
internal alarm bells go off. Rather than
recognizing this as a normal part of
his career experience and seeking out
new challenges in other areas of his
life, he turns to the Internet for new
ideas about career fulfilment. As he
fantasizes about different options,
he imagines the novel experiences
and starts to feel disappointed in his
current circumstances, no matter how
good they are. The reality, however,
is that even if he changes jobs yet
again, he will still reach this point of
adaptation soon after settling into his
new role.
So, what should you do if you find
yourself in the same vicious career
cycle as Philip?
First, you should recognize that all new
experiences will eventually reach a
point of adaptation. You will reach a
point where you feel comfortable rather
than euphoric. Philip Brickman and
Donald Campbell (1971) labelled this
the Hedonic Treadmill.2 No matter how
good your choices and how pleasurable
the results, your subjective experience
will return to where you started.
Second, boycott the Internet for a
while. When you start to feel neutral
stimulation with your current career
reality, do not immediately start
Brickman, P. and Campbell, D.T. “Hedonic
relativism and planning the good society.”
In M. H. Apley (Ed.), Adaptation-Level
Theory: A Symposium. Academic Press.
New York, 1971.
2
page 16
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I N D U S T R Y U P D AT E
researching new career options.
Instead, focus inward and ask yourself
what feeling you are trying to regain. If
it is a feeling of excitement, ask yourself:
“How else can I get this feeling without
changing my career path, yet again?”
Third, recognize that any gains you
may get by changing jobs may be
incremental. It is unlikely that another
change will really bring you that much
more joy. Instead, focus on other parts
of your life where you could experience
feelings of novelty or challenge.
Fourth, when you think about a career
option, try factoring adaptation into
the choice. Ask yourself how you will
feel once you have gone through the
initial fun part. Imagine yourself five
years down the road.
Fifth, foster an attitude of gratitude.
Although it may sound cliché,
reminding yourself of all the good
things you have can have a surprisingly
positive impact on overall career and
life satisfaction.
Lastly, if none of this works, ask yourself
if you are making career choices from
your authentic self, or from your
adaptive self – who you think you
“should be.” If you are making choices
from your adaptive self, do some deep
personal reflection to discover what
you want and need, and explore your
emotional history to understand when
this adaptive coping mechanism first
kicked in and how you are overusing
it today.
Natalie Michael is a CEO and
Executive Coach with the
Karmichael Group and a MacKay
CEO Forums chair. She coaches
executives who want to extract
more meaning from their work,
refine their leadership style,
and be influential in challenging
environments.