How to deal with not progressing

[KarateSchnitzel]

I'm looking for other people's views on how to stay motivated/fulfilled in a role when I know I don't want to progress any further.

I'm approaching 40 so still have quite a few years left of work. I'm paid well, enjoy the work and I permanently WFH full time which is great.

My entire working life has always involved looking ahead to what my next career move would be. I don't want to move organisations and I'm really not interested in a promotion.

This is all very alien to me as I don't feel as though I'm working towards anything. I do think I might be a bit bored because I am not really learning any new skills. I do take part in new projects to keep work interesting but the novelty wears off eventually.

I do feel very lucky to be in this position but I can't help feeling like something is missing.

Can anyone relate to this and share some advice? I did consider doing a masters to see if it would broaden my horizons or open new doors but I'm reluctant to add any more debt to my student loans.

Does your current workplace offer any contribution towards further study? All my workplaces (so far!) have offered some kind of development whether that's paying a chunk towards further education, a connection to a university where you can do a funded masters or access to online courses. Might be worth seeing if there's a way of getting it funded via work (if it's vaguely related to what you're doing!)

Unfortunately no, it's public sector. They do offer apprenticeships but there isn't anything I'm interested in.

Accept that you have found your "place" in work.
If you still feel something is missing you need to look outside of work for additional life enrichment

This is a good point, I do need more hobbies.

What about promotion? Or detached duty? I'm public sector and have spent the last ten years or so doing various detached duties all over the place and in vastly different departments which has broadened my skill set nicely

I finally went for promotion last year as I felt I'd done everything I wanted to and had a sense of 'now what?'. All that detached duty came in handy though as I had plenty of experience to draw on during the application process and interview.

When you say detached duty, do you mean secondment? Sorry, I've never heard that term before. If so, we are not a huge organisation so these types of roles don't come up often but I would consider something like this if it was something I'm interested in. I'm really not fussed about a promotion though. I really don't file like the extra responsibility and stress would be worth the extra pay.

Secondment, yes. We call it detached duty in my bit.

I always deliberately looked for it outside of my normal business area. I mean, I know my own business area, so why would I look for a role there?

I found it useful as I got a wider understanding, met new people and got to see the world outside of my own department. Even if it was something I hated, I knew it would only be for a short time so I could tolerate it.

Also, don't discount promotion. I kind of felt like you do, but went for it anyway, not even expecting to get an interview, let alone the job! Now that I'm in the role, I realise I was ready for it, and probably had been for quite a while.

In the past I’ve found that shifting my perspective has helped when I’ve felt something is missing. I wonder if it would help to reframe or accept, as suggested above, that this is what you need from your work at this point in your life.

If you’re someone who finds it helpful to have a template or guide to help structure your thinking, you could google the wheel of life or life balance wheel. It’s a tool to help you think about the different aspects of your life and you could use this to identify where you might want to put your energy, or what you feel you’re missing if career isn’t the priority at this point.

Or if you decide that there is something missing at work, is there anything you could ask to get involved in for your interest or early career colleagues you could mentor?