Maybe it’s the commute.  Or the job.  Or the boss.  Or the company you work for.  It happens to those close to retirement and young executives unhappy with their current roles.  No matter the issue or where you are in your career, at some point all of us feel the urge to run away from our job.  We convince ourselves that everything will be better once we escape.

Here’s the problem:  As tempting as running away can be, it isn’t always the solution.  When we are unhappy it’s easy to forget that there’s a significant difference between running from a bad situation versus running toward a better future.

If you’re running away, you’re focused on what’s behind you.  You’re looking over your shoulder, not truly focused on where you’re going.  All that matters is escaping because you’ve convinced yourself that anything would be better.

Getting away from that bad boss, miserable commute or underperforming company definitely will boost your spirits in the short term.  But jumping ship without a well-formed plan about what comes next will only increase the likelihood of making a poor decision.

There’s a lot of wisdom in the old saying, “the grass isn’t always greener.”  Run away and you could easily end up in another bad situation or, worse, regretting your decision. 

This is why it’s so important to stay focused on the future by running towards something.

People who do this have a clear view of what they want from their next role.  They’ve done the hard internal work to learn from their past experiences and understand the type of work that will fulfill them.  Rather than just jumping at the first offer or watching the calendar like a prisoner waiting for parole, they are following a plan.

This lesson is especially true for those contemplating retirement.  The happiest people in retirement are those who exited their former careers with a clear sense of purpose for the next phase of their lives. 

Here’s an easy way to determine if you’re thinking too much about running away: ask yourself what you want from your next job or phase of your life.  If your answer is mostly about things you want to escape like a bad boss, long commute or another dreadful part of your current situation, you may not have spent enough time determining what you want next.

At some point all of us will need to make a move.  But if you don’t know where you want to end up, you could always find yourself running.  Here’s the bottom line:  Regardless of where you are in your career, satisfaction and fulfillment will only come when you focus less on endings and start imagining new beginnings.