In the not so old days, most of Career Counseling Connecticut’s clients who had unhappy jobs would include: “I can’t just leave, what would people say?” as one of the reasons for staying in a job or career path that caused unhappiness.
There are valid reasons for staying in careers and jobs that lead to unhappiness. Financially necessity is reason number 1. That practical reason should be separated from psychological reasons. Psychological reasons include (1) fear of uncertainty (2) dealing with the uncomfortable of something new and (3) “what will people say?” (as opposed to how you will explain your job shift to a potential employer).
The amount of reflection caused by the pandemic has seemingly removed the latter.
We all have permission to find happy careers.