What to Do If You Feel Trapped

Key points

Feeling like you're trapped easily leads to resignation and depression.

The antidote is realizing that at some level you are making a choice and you have options.

The challenge is taking the risk of moving forward, even if baby steps, to get information and support.

Carl isn’t happy in his job—it’s boring , he doesn’t particularly like his coworkers, and especially his supervisor, who is a micromanager—but he has a pension and a couple of kids that he’d like to put through college. He feels trapped.

Jodi, too, feels trapped; not in a job but in her marriage . She and her husband have little in common, are living parallel lives, and his occasional but explosive bouts of anger keep her walking on eggshells. But she is only working part-time, and literally can’t afford t