What if I focused on moving toward my craft?
When you are good at work you no longer enjoy, it is easy to make the whole question about getting away from it. Humans are very much pain avoidant creatures wherever possible. We also love focusing on the things that are hurting us.
I would start by changing the question to: What do I want to move toward instead?
It feels like these are saying the same thing… trust me… they’re not.
This is often the next step after recognizing a competency trap: work where your knowledge and skill are high, but your enjoyment is low. Check out that article if you haven’t seen it, because this is largely where people focus on.
You may have built an entire career around it, and it’s probably got you to some pretty good compensation for it. Walking away from that experience and income could be difficult, and you don’t necessarily need to abandon either to begin changing direction. Actually, it’s usually better that you don’t.
Instead, use what you are already good at as a springboard toward work you want to do more of.
What if I need the income from work I no longer enjoy?
That is the first priority, almost always. Nothing else matters if we can’t pay our rent and lose our housing.
If you are unemployed and urgently need a job, leaning into your strongest experience may be the most practical option available. Taking another role in that area does not mean you have given up on developing your craft, or moving towards something you actually enjoy doing. Sometimes, we have to do what we have to do.
One thing to be aware of is how you talk about that work in interviews. When you no longer enjoy it, finding energy for the conversation can be difficult. Focus on the contribution you can make, the problems you know how to solve, and the work you can take pride in delivering.
If you are employed, you may want to preserve the income your experience supports while developing something else. The urgency will depend on your circumstances, including how much the current work is costing you.
The aim is to create options without unnecessarily giving up the stability you need.
So, let’s get back to moving towards work you enjoy instead of away from work you hate.
How do I start changing the balance of my work?
Keep doing the work you need to do, but look for room to introduce something you enjoy.
That may require reining in how much of your time goes toward the competency trap. If every new assignment reinforces the same expertise, there may be little space left to develop a different direction.
Return to your knowledge, skill, and enjoyment assessment. Look for areas where enjoyment is high, like an eight, nine, or ten, but knowledge or skill still has room to grow.
Those are potential places to start!
You might bring one into a career growth conversation with your manager and identify a suitable project. If you have enough autonomy, you may be able to incorporate it into work you already own.
The goal is to make room for development, without overextending yourself in your job in the process. Simply adding more projects to an already exhausting week may leave you with less capacity to make the change.
What am I trying to build through those projects?
You are building enough knowledge, skill, and evidence to make a different balance of work possible.
Over time, that might support a change in your current responsibilities, an internal move, or a role at another company.
The work you enjoy becomes more central. The work you are good at but no longer enjoy may become a supporting capability, sit nearer the perimeter of your role, or eventually fall away.
This approach gives you a way to build on your experience while developing a new direction. It cannot guarantee the same pay or a particular opportunity, but you do not have to assume that change requires throwing away all your professional progress.
The intention is what’s important and that you’re doing this change with purpose. Know which capabilities you are developing, why you want them, and what experience would help you move forward.
You cannot abandon the competency trap and simply hope that something better appears. But as you deliberately build toward your craft, you give yourself more options for making the work you enjoy a larger part of your career.
The focus becomes what you are moving toward. Moving away from the competency trap can happen through that progress.
