|
Call it the Boomer Family Cycle: baby boomers who couldn't wait to get away from their square, oppressive families are now moving back home. They will
transfer or even change jobs to get back to a friendlier place.
If you're not happy, consider going "home" yourself. The key is not the old family farm, where Grandpa milks the cows by hand while Grandma
rolls out pie crusts in a fog of flour, but a place you feel more comfortable.
This comfortable place can be physical or mental. You can get more comfortable in life and, therefore, on the job by changing your locale or your
attitude. The trick is that you will have to make a change because your boss won't.
A full half-dozen family friends have left the Dallas area during the past few years. Our next-door neighbors moved back to Alabama so that their three
kids could see family more often. My son's best friend got dragged back to Detroit when his parents split and his mother took him and his sister back
home. You know neighbors who have left. You may be facing that pull homeward yourself.
Today's market gives most of the power to job seekers. Did you notice the recent addition of a relocation resource guide here on this site? If you want
to move, this job market offers the best chance in years. Recruiters admit relocation costs are a small part of the hiring equation; good candidates
will have no problem getting corporate relocation assistance.
Sometimes home has appeal because family remains far away. I don't expect everyone reading this to have fond family relations, sad though that is. Home
for you may be a location, not a gathering of kin.
My father and stepmother retired from Dallas to the Oregon coast. He always loved that part of the country and rarely made an effort to visit family
when he lived here. Pine trees and a rocky coast hold more appeal to him than family, I suppose. I don't agree, but we rarely do.
"Home" doesn't have to be a physical place. Mentally, everyone has a time and circumstance that beckons with warm feelings, good memories, and
a rosy glow of happiness. Part of that feeling comes from fading memory skills as we get older and the fact that painful memories recede over time. But
part also comes from the experience to realize what you once did gave much more satisfaction than what you're doing now.
Managers often regret the step up from the trenches into a world of meetings and paperwork. Programmers miss coding. Sales executives miss building
relationships with customers. School administrators miss students and go back to teaching. I know examples of each of these situations. You probably
know a few yourself.
If your job doesn't feel right and you yearn for an earlier career station, check into it. Not every step down or over needs to cost you a fortune in
reduced salary, especially in this job market.
If your job doesn't feel right but you don't feel comfortable changing, look to your personal life. Everyone morphed through a variety of interests and
hobbies growing up and let the pressures of work choke their free time down to nothing.
Rediscover your free time, and rediscover a hobby that provides a feeling of comfort and a sense of home. As a semi-pro musician, I'm a magnet for
confessions of people who use to play piano, clarinet, guitar, trumpet, or sing and "wished I'd kept with it."
"Go back to it. It's not a stupid idea (at least no more stupid than most of my ideas). Take lessons, find a community band, join the church choir,
but return "home" to a hobby you enjoy.
Did you play tennis as a kid? Grab a racquet and get some group lessons to relearn the fun. Baseball? Find a city or church league for baseball or
softball. Sports improve you physically and mentally, giving you some familiar comfort to look forward to at the end of a long day.
Your job's job does not include making you happy. That's your job. Home, comfort, and happiness mean different things to different people. But don't be
afraid to take action to make yourself, your spouse, and your immediate family happier.
Moving is drastic action but sometimes necessary. Taking piano lessons with your children is less drastic and will provide distance from whatever muck
you deal with on the job.
One way or another, leave your job and go home.
|
