Deciding when to put your career on “cruise control” is a personal decision and will depend on a number of factors, including your career goals, financial situation, work-life balance, and overall job satisfaction. Here are a few considerations:
1. Achievement of Career Goals: If you’ve reached a point in your career where you’ve achieved the goals you set out for yourself, you might feel ready to switch to cruise control. This doesn’t mean you stop growing or learning entirely, but you might not be aggressively seeking promotions or new opportunities.
2. Financial Stability: If you’re financially stable, with enough savings for your future and current needs, you might feel comfortable easing up on your career progression. Some people reach a point where the stress and time commitment of chasing promotions isn’t worth the additional income.
3. Work-Life Balance: If you’ve achieved a good work-life balance, you might not want to disrupt that by taking on more responsibilities at work. This is especially relevant for people with families or significant personal commitments.
4. Job Satisfaction: If you’re happy and fulfilled in your current role, there might be no need to seek further career progression. This could be a good time to switch to cruise control.
5. Approaching Retirement: As you get closer to retirement, you might decide to ease up on career progression and instead focus on transitioning to the next phase of your life.
Putting your career on “cruise control” doesn’t mean you stop caring about your job or stop trying to improve. It just means that you’re content with where you’re at and aren’t actively seeking to move up. It’s also not a permanent state—you can always decide to accelerate your career again if your circumstances change.
