When first faced with an opportunity to move for work it’s hard not to be filled with excitement. However the excitement can quickly turn to confusion once faced with all the possible pros and cons of having to relocate. When faced with such an opportunity there are 3 major factors that will determine whether or not it is the right decision for you. Those factors are compensation, friends and family, and the actual work.
Compensation
Usually this is the first thing people pay attention to but in my opinion is the least important. Unless the new job pays two to three times more this shouldn’t be a major decision factor for you. I know you may be wondering “why?” The truth is compensation doesn’t equal fulfillment. Not to mention your new location might require a more expensive lifestyle which will deem the raise irrelevant. Add in all the travel you will be doing when you get homesick and you may actually be making less. It may be cliche to say “money doesn’t buy happiness” but it in reality, it really doesn’t. And it especially wont if you’re not actually getting more of it.
Friends and Family
This is usually the second most important factor when deciding whether to move for a new job. It will be difficult to work hard and be fulfilled if you are always being consumed with thoughts of “back home.” Being separated from close ones can cause feelings of depression and anxiety which can cause you to underperform at work. In the worst case scenario, this can actually jeopardize your newly found career. Alik, founder of The Movers That Care, says that he’s had many repeat customers, because “they realize quickly that it is too difficult for them to be alone and start a bran new life at that stage of their life.” He also goes on too add “we move them, and then we move them back, it happens often.”
The Work
The biggest factor will always be the actual work involved. The job you are performing and the one you are planning on moving to. The saying “do what you love and you will never work a day in your life” has a lot of truth to it. If you are passionate about your work you will excel and feel whole emotionally and mentally. This is usually something that can allow us to overlook a lot thats going in our lives. This is because working takes up the biggest part of our lives and if we aren’t happy there it will be hard to be happy overall. f you wont feel good about what you do in your next endeavor, it is best not to make that move.
In the end the final decision will be a result of how you “feel” about it. Don’t let fear of change hold you back from making a positive step in the right direction. But you always want to make sure that the fear is coming from a place of excitement and not anxiety. In the words of the late Steve Jobs: “ follow your heart, but check it with your head.”
