When you're ready to leave your job, it's pretty normal to be completely paralyzed with fear. Life coach Dr. Sharon Lamm-Hartman says there comes a point when it's time to just go ahead and take the plunge once and for all.


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Lamm-Hartmann says once you've made up your mind, staying on in a job you're checked out of emotionally will just stress you out even more. Her advice: Don't let the fact we're in a recession hold you back—the job market is more fluid than it appears as people leave jobs they're dissatisfied with.

The ideal way to go would be to have something lined up [before quitting]. But that's not always the case these days. If you are dissatisfied, and your company is laying off or downsizing, and you know you want to be doing something else, then go. It's risky, it's giving up job security, but there's really no such thing as job security anymore anyway. And a lot of times companies are providing support, too, like outsourcing support where you can actually get some career counseling if you don't know what you want to do next. There are lots of companies out there right now that are helping people connect with what they really want to do.


If you're not ready to do something quite so drastic as walk out on a steady (albeit unhappy) job situation, then consider freelancing without quitting your current job. Have you walked away from your job recently to pursue another opportunity? What motivated you to jump ship? How did it work out? Let us know in the comments.

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Resisting Temptation to Jump Ship? Get Over It Already (Google link) [Advertising Age]