People blame someone’s career path for break ups, or distancing them from love ones daily. The reality is that people separate themselves a career path. Your spouse may appear supportive about your career, but they abhor the effect it has on them.
You can have both a career passion and a strong marriage. It is the family’s burden to have one or the other. Success is contingent on comprehending the signs, and responding to them positively within the wishes of your loved ones. Listening to what family says, and communication forms the willingness to change, or see the writing on the wall:
- Your family hates your long hours and work life more than your job duties. I thought for a while that husbands are solely guilty of this, but over time, both spouses contend for understanding from each other. Listening is the best tool ever to discern what your spouse wants. Remember it’s the both of you sojourning this career path.
- Your spouse may hate what your career does to you. Listen for symptoms that your spouse says about you, even as a joke or in passing: cranky, despondent, tired, disengaged, off into his or her own world, and emotional. These are symptoms, not the root of what your spouse is saying.
- It is evident that job perks are more attractive that the job. Perks are acceptable when time and salary positively benefit everyone, but when it compromises and separates the family, it is a problem. If you are holding on to a career because of a perk, it’s time to find a new one.
- When work is an issue that sacrifices family time. There is a time that work will need to be put to the side. Your bottom line intention is to feed your family. Unfortunately, undisciplined intentions interfere with family time, and family cohesion.
- Neither you or your spouse has discussed the issue. If your spouse is building a separate life without you, it’s a serious problem. When both spouses are conflict avoiders, the behavior breeds anger. It says something about you, and more often the point of no return. You have to be the one to engage, listen, and change if this is unacceptable to you.
About Mark Anthony Dyson
My name is Mark Anthony Dyson, and I am the Founder of The Voice of Job Seekers. I am a career advice writer, but more importantly, I hack and re-imagine the job search process.. I've worked with hundreds of job seekers one-on-one helping them to construct a narrative and strategy that appeals to hiring managers and recruiters. I present at colleges and organizations, and facilitated many workshops including my volunteer effort through a Job Lab. I write and create useful job search content on this blog and write career and workplace advice for blogs such as Glassdoor, Payscale, Job-Hunt.org, Prezi and more. Media Feature highlights: Forbes, Business Insider, NBC News, Glassdoor, LinkedIn's #GetHired, and NPR Freelance writer and content contributor: Glassdoor, Payscale, job-hunt.org, The Financial Diet, RippleMatch.com and more. Contact me to contribute career, job search, or workplace advice for your site at markanthonydyson@gmail.com.