There are many reasons why a career may seem to feel “stuck” or stalled. Although external events like a weak economy, a sinking industry or a company downsizing may impact your career in the short term, they shouldn’t, in the long term, because, inevitably, events either turn around or you move on, voluntarily or not, to another company or another industry.

Change tends to shake things up, and a new job could be a good career move for you. It at least gives you a fresh start and a new set of challenges. In any case, you rebound, get back on your feet and, more than likely, bring fresh energy to the new tasks at hand.

Feeling “Stalled At Work”

A more serious issue is when the economy and your company are doing fine, but you yourself feel “stalled”, as if you’ve lost your momentum, if not your moorings. If you feel as if you’re simply treading water at work, and unable to figure out how to re-ignite your unbounded enthusiasm and get your career moving again, you may be “stuck” in a negative dynamic which you need to recognize and redirect.

First, don’t be alarmed if your find yourself feeling “stalled”, listless, a bit blue and moody, lacking in enthusiasm, not to mention fire and passion for the work before you. If you, in fact, used to like the work you did, it’s probably not the work itself which is the problem but some unresolved emotions you haven’t fully examined yet. If you’ve outgrown the work you once did and should have been moved up long ago, that is very close to the same problem.

Know Yourself, Own Your Feelings

Face it. If you are feeling resentful, angry, emotionally drained or listless at work, there is probably a very good reason for it , although it might not be what you think it is. If your boss yells at you, disparages you, or refuses to give you new challenges, he is not the problem. If your boss doesn’t come through with raises and promotions he’s promised you, he is still not the problem. Your reaction is the problem.

Life is short and unemployment is low. There’s a labor shortage in many industries. If you don’t like your work environment or how you’re being treated, come to terms with it and make a change.

If you’ve gotten into a burn out mode, it’s not because the work is too hard, too much is on your shoulders and no one but you can do it to perfection. It’s because you’re taking on too much and haven’t learned the fine art of saying “No.” “No, I won’t be available to work every evening” or “No, I have enough on my plate, I can’t take on another project” or “No, not without more help.” Lighten up. You’ll never get to the finish line if you’re suffering from burn out and begin sleep walking through your job.

Take a break. Go on vacation. At the very least, take an afternoon off and resolve not to work on week-ends or take calls during dinner or family time. Relax more and last longer. It may be very much the “in” thing right now, and a ticket to entrepreneur sainthood for all the hot shots in all the hot young start ups to boast: “I pulled an all nighter”, or, to eliminate downtime, as Gordon Gekko instructed in “Wall Street” when he declared “Lunch is for wimps.” But downtime restores you, recharges your batteries, gets your creative juices flowing. It’s the turtle and hare race, where the race is not necessarily to the swiftest.

Do you need to call all the shots, and don’t understand the meaning of compromise? Do you vent anger inappropriately? Would you really, in truth, rather be in another profession altogether?

Try to get to the bottom of what it is that’s holding you back or burning you up, then deal with it. If you’re a six figure stock broker and you’d rather be a school teacher, set up your finances so you can systematically save enough to do what you really want.

Whether it’s going back to school, hiring someone to drive your kids to soccer so you can accept more challenging work, quitting something ultra secure for something scary but exhilarating like starting your own business, go for it. Take a risk. If you fail, at least you will respect yourself for having tried. If you never try, you may always wonder “what might have been.” If you do what it takes to make yourself happy in your career, you will be energized and able to live up to your own expectations.