Habit Patterns...A Job Transition Lever or Crutch?

By Dan Puleio

Embarking on a major job transition, whether it be starting a job search, changing employers or accepting a significant promotion, presents the opportunity to evaluate the many aspects of our lives and to start anew with the mid-year equivalent to New Year’s Resolutions. Time to change or quit our many habits…or is it? Maybe its more effective to have our past habit patterns work for us to expedite the job transition.

The most successful business leaders of my experience make their previous habit patterns work for them. These career development “superstars” recognize that under the stress of a job change, past habit patterns have a tendency to amplify themselves. I purport that one’s habit patterns provide a certain comfort and security in challenging times and, as a result, tend to engender a strong emotional dependency. The question is then, “Do your past habit patterns support or hinder your goal of finding that next career enhancing position?”…are they a lever or a crutch?

I ask you to be completely honest with yourself when you ask, “Does this behavior help or hinder my job transition in terms of time, health, cost and attitude?” Frankly, habits can be positive, negative or neutral. However, since they tend to become more pronounced under the stress of a job transition, even neutral habits can become subtle negatives, simply because they absorb greater and greater amounts of “comfort” time that could otherwise be utilized in securing that next career enhancing position.

If awareness and control of these now more pronounced habits is allowed to go unchecked, the short-term comfort they provide actually introduces an added level of stress into our subconscious mind. The subconscious “knows” that we are exercising avoidance behavior and the dissonance induced between our short and long-term goals acts to further divert us from ultimate job transition success.

What I’ll often hear next is, “The heck with habits, I’ll just toss them and start my life anew. I’ve been thinking about quitting (list your favorites here) anyway.” This alternative may sound attractive but, in practice, adds an immediate additional stressor to the job transition. Remember, past habits provide a certain comfort and security during stressful times. For most people it may be more effective to use your past habits as a support tool or as a reward, versus conducting the stressful job transition in a habit pattern “vacuum”.

Folks have asked me to define lists of positive, negative or neutral habits. Since we are all unique individuals, providing examples meaningful to some readers would be utterly meaningless to others and, in most cases, best discussed via a personal consultation. However, the “bottom line” is that classifying habits is actually not as important as to what extreme do we take them!

If you find the habit forms an escape instead of a support tool, then consider using it as a personal reward for achieving a given activity or goal. Why not? Job transition is tough enough! Write the action item in your calendar and hold yourself strictly accountable to reward yourself only after this measurable activity has been accomplished…Make the habit work for you versus you working for or around the habit!

About the Author:

Dan Puleio offers 20 years "hands-on" experience as a recruiter, career coach and employment offer negotiator. A principal with Your Life-Your Career LLC, his proven systems get job seekers into the "game" quickly and cost effectively. See www.yl-yc.com for more on Dan's approach.