In my work helping teachers navigate their careers, I see a common misunderstanding. They think they are stuck when in fact they are afraid.
For example, many teachers tell me they can’t afford to leave the profession. Sometimes that is true in very practical terms because mortgages, children, responsibilities are very real, with consequences if ignored. But often, beneath the statement “I can’t afford to leave” there’s something more tender waiting to be heard:
I’m scared of making the wrong decision.
I don’t trust myself to start again.
What if I regret it?
What if I stay and nothing changes?
When we’re exhausted or overwhelmed, the mind looks for certainty and “I can’t afford to leave” sounds sensible and responsible. It also sounds final as it closes the conversation before the deeper questions can surface.
But here’s something to think about before allowing it to become final: safety and alignment are not always the same thing. Safety can keep us stuck, whereas alignment allows us to move forward with more confidence and a sense of knowing.
What I’ve noticed is that the fear of the unknown can feel heavier than the discomfort of the present. We imagine worst-case scenarios; we tell ourselves we’ll have to start at the bottom; we overlook the depth of experience and capability we’ve built over years.
And yet, every day, teachers demonstrate extraordinary transferable skills: leadership, project management, facilitation, strategic thinking, coaching. The issue is rarely capability; more often, it is an issue of visibility – not fully seeing ourselves and the value we already embody.
This is where resilience comes in, not the gritted-teeth, push-through kind, but the quieter kind. The willingness to stay present in uncertainty long enough for our thinking to settle.
Clarity rarely arrives when we demand it; it tends to emerge when we create space. Space to question the story that says we’re stuck … Space to imagine what we might want before dismissing it as unrealistic … Space to admit that perhaps we’re not trying to escape teaching itself, but the feeling of being depleted or misaligned with who we’ve become.
Recently I revisited Aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia (human flourishing). He described it as living in alignment with our deeper values and strengths. That word alignment feels central to everything I do.
When teachers come to me asking whether they should go for promotion, remain where they are, or leave teaching entirely, the real question is rarely “What job should I do?” It’s something deeper: Who am I now? And what would feel aligned with that?
Career change isn’t about rushing decisions; dramatic exits; or bold declarations. It’s about understanding yourself more clearly. You don’t need to decide today whether to stay or go. You simply need the space.
In that space we begin to see ourselves for who we really are (ie our strengths, our values, our capacity) and something shifts. Insight replaces panic and our perspective widens. Possibility and a sense of knowing reveal themselves.
That’s alignment! And with alignment comes a quieter, steadier kind of confidence, the kind that allows you to move forward with purpose rather than with fear.
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