After a long conversation with an established Account Executive this morning, my brain started thinking in overdrive. Why on earth would a successful sales executive want to leave a position with a top tier company when she has met quota quarter after quarter, year after year, and earning upwards of four-hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year? I know, sounds mind-boggling to most of us who sit at home at night and hope for even just one-fourth of that and still earn less.

“I do extremely well at my job, it’s a dream job. It’s like winning the lottery year after year.” she says.

What I wanted to do was ask her if she’s lost her mind, but experience has taught me to get a grasp on controlling the thoughts that first pop in my head, so instead I sat and listened, and learned. As she explained to me how well she has done in her job because of her dedication and work ethic, she has come to a point where the cycle has been mastered and now she’s bored. This made sense to me as I thought of words a past mentor once said to me, “In any sales role it takes three years to master your craft and become a true professional. Year one is for learning, year two is for practicing and year three is for perfecting.” At that time I didn’t think about what happens after perfection, but my candidate did.

At first thought one might think this is just another person going through a mid-life crisis in her late thirties. But after a day of reflecting, this is not what I would call it. There comes a point in everyone’s life when you realize what is important to you, whether it be in your teenage years, twenties, thirties, and so on. This is that time for my sales executive candidate.

Since her early years she has always had a passion for writing and the arts, but never knew how to monetize those talents, so they stayed on the back burner and the not so often visited hobby folder. And after realizing that these aspects are not being fulfilled and not possible to incorporate into her position, frustration has set in, full force.

Discovering what your passions are early on is important. I’m not an expert on this topic, only you know what floats your own boat. It could be money in the bank, proposing a solution, helping clients solve problems or somehow satisfying your creative side. But what I think I do know is that if you are not fulfilling these inherent personal desires outside of the workplace, it is important to do so inside.

If this is not happening, it’s okay to go ahead and re-think your lottery job.

Sharon