I’ve been at one company for 12 years.

In another I stayed for just 1 year.

In my current business I’m approaching the end of 4 wonderful years.

There’s no easy answer to the question on when and whether you should look to exit a company.

What I mean by that is that most generic career advice or recruitment consultants measure this in timelines.

“You should look to move on after 3 years”

is pretty standard advice, freely imparted by the well meaning.

Here’s the framework I use to determine my answer to the question “should I stay or should I go”.

It’s how I H.E.L.P. myself to make the right decision.

H = Heartbeat

E = Environment

L = Learning

P = Potential.

Let’s tackle these one at a time.

Heartbeat

This reference may need extra explanation if you don’t live in the UK.

This popular drama always aired on a Sunday evening between 1992 to 2010 with a very catchy theme tune you can listen to here: You’ll thank me later!

These were my formative years.

The point is that whenever I heard that theme tune it signalled the end of the weekend.

In my most miserable school days I’d feel this creeping gulping feeling of dread right up to the pit of my chest as the thought of Monday Morning and another week loomed.

I swore to myself that whatever the circumstance, I would never have to experience that in my adult life.

That’s what I clung to in those dark days. It was a promise I made to myself. A light at the end of the tunnel.

The point is, if you feel like that because of work, you’re an adult and you have choices.

The moment I experience that dread on a Sunday night is the moment I know enough is enough. It’s time to move on.

Environment

Forget the actual work for a moment.

Most jobs have their tough parts, the mind-numbing elements, the heightened moments of anxiety.

But what’s the environment like?

By that I mean.

Are the people fun to be around?

What’s your place of work like?

Do you enjoy mixing in the office, heck even the odd night out with your work colleagues?

And importantly is there a person / or people that are your confidantes. You can trust them with anything and you know they have your back?

The work will suck at times anywhere.

But if you’re in a good environment, one where you’re happy, everything is more tolerable and even fun.

Learning

is living really.

Do you know what I’m most scared of?

It’s that I lose my ability to learn new things

Witnessing the devastating consequences of dementia in my family currently has put this into stark perspective.

The moment we stop learning, we are wasting our potential.

The most important currency we have is time.

It’s the one factor that is finite and out of our control.

What we can control though, is how much value we get from that time. How we can improve our knowledge, enhance our understanding and how we can then spread our knowledge to help others.

The moment I feel like I’ve stopped learning in my role, stopped challenging myself or am in such a comfort zone is the moment I look to move on.

Just think about this for a moment.

How much value do you place on your time?

Are you sure you’re okay with just ticking along?

Potential

What is the potential of

a.) your career within the business you work for?

b.) the growth of the business itself?

Not only will this impact your learning (and likely earning) potential, but if a business’ growth potential doesn’t match your own

You’re being falsely constrained.

All you can look forward to is confined within the limits that business places on you.

You can’t outgrow these constraints, unless you make the move.

Don’t constrain your ambition by the limits of the business you work for.

Ask yourself, is my potential being constrained or realised by the business I work for?

If you need H.E.L.P. determining the path forward here don’t forget you can book with me.

The only question remains “Should I stay, or should I go?”