Just like milk, things in life have an expiration date.  Whether it’s a job, relationship or something internal, when the buzzer sounds and time has expired there’s no turning back.  Sometimes we stay too long and just like that carton of sour milk, there’s nothing that will turn it back.  It’s time to move on.

For day #6 of the 30 Day Blog Rock Star Challenge I’ll share about one of the things I’m most proud of – my leap from corporate employment to being an entrepreneur.

I confess, by the time I left a 30-year safe, predictable corporate career I had exceeded my expiration date.  The signs resembled burnout but the day-to-day tasks of getting the job done weren’t stressful.  What was stressful was staying in a job; staying when my internal clock, my soul-clock, was sounding the alarm.

Much like burnout, exceeding your expiration date creeps in over time.  This article The Tell Tale Signs of Burnout helps identify signs of burnout and warns of its insidious nature.  Exceeding your expiration date has similar qualities, and might be confused with burnout.  In looking more closely at my own leap, the warning signs are different from burnout and critical to discern.

If you are wondering should I stay or should I go, they may help you determine if you are burned out in a job that would be ok, possibly enjoyable if you changed how you respond to the current environment; OR if is it time to take a leap into your emerging future self.

My ‘future self’ felt like an unwelcome visitor.  It was the last thing I wanted AND the thing I wanted most.  Freedom.  If you are considering a leap, read closely for some tips to distinguish if it’s burnout or launch-time.

1. You have a short fuse. Your own version of Dirty Harry’s ‘make my day’.  It’s beyond irritability.  You argue with superiors.  The mundane things anger you not because they add more work, but because they highlight how unaligned with your deeper talents and gifts you have become.  The vehicle to deliver those talents and gifts remains just out of reach.
2. You are anxious. Not the anxiety or worry that things will get missed or not work out.  Nor is it anxiety triggered by unclear or unmanageable expectations and the feeling that it’s only a matter of time before the other shoe drops.  This anxiety comes in knowing that you are subconsciously setting up your own extraction and you won’t stop it.
3. You are distracted. Not the forgetful, foggy, inability to concentrate that comes with burnout.  It is distraction you use to avoid the internal pain telling you that you are done!  You’ll do anything to avoid thinking about the time you know is coming when you will be out on your own no matter how many people you disappoint or upset.

I’m proud of my departure from corporate employment into entrepreneurship and it is by having walked this path that I can distinguish how it’s different from burnout.

Damage is done when people who are burned out think it’s time to leap into the world of entrepreneurship.  And equal damage done when your expiration date has come and you choose to linger on.  The quality of your life may depend upon discerning between the two.

Please share on what you see are indicators that you’ve stayed too long?  Does it feel like a push or a pull?  How can you tell the difference?