Right now, you likely have the best job you've ever had. Compared to any previous job, your current job has more positives. That doesn't mean it's perfect or even that you like it. You could hate your current job and it is still the best job you've had. You considered it in comparison to all previous jobs. This gave you the perspective to make a better choice during your last job search. Despite turns in the economy and other setbacks, I've liked each job more than the last. This is largely based on a simple but effective technique. Every time I considered a new job, I thought about what I most disliked on my current job and eliminated any options that contained those attributes. Naturally, over time the ratio of positive to negative has shifted favorably.

Today I have one big item that causes an outsized amount of discomfort. Despite company policies, my boss is hyper-focused on overtime hours over an imaginary threshold. Colleagues on other teams tell me they never talk about overtime with their boss. My experience is that every time I get put on a last-minute or large project the overtime naturally follows. This in turn leads to difficult conversations around my hours and, worse, my capabilities as a professional. In a simple 80/20 analysis it's clear that a direct solution is available to me. Manage the overtime hours that cause the pain. I know I have a variety of options.

The solution is easier to see with the problem identified. The same goes for your situation. You can immediately improve your situation by identifying which single issue causes you the bulk of your pain. Once you identify that, it will be easier to identify solutions to your specific challenge. At that point it becomes a matter of testing and execution. Test the easiest solutions first and find the solution that yields the result you want. A double Pareto approach is to eliminate your biggest source of pain with the smallest input that gives the biggest gain. Applying this approach will immediately shift your mindset to give you an immediate improvement in job satisfaction. That works much faster than finding the perfect job.