Don’t settle in your work. We’ve all been there—the jobs that we have worked just to put bread on the table. You know the ones I’m talking about-the ones that you know if you found someplace better you’d jump ship without a second thought. I’m talking about those jobs that seem to drain on and on until you can feel the weight in your soul.

I don’t mean the jobs where the work is just something you’re not interested in pursuing. I mean the jobs where you know they wouldn’t miss you, and they treat you like it. Or, worse yet, the jobs where you know you pull more than your weight and you still end up treated like you are a detriment.

If you’re in one of these jobs, don’t give up. I know many people who have settled into these jobs because if it pays the bills they don’t want to risk losing it. In this economy, I don’t blame them. Making sure there’s income to get your bills paid is important, but that doesn’t mean you should kill yourself working jobs that don’t care about you.

Keep looking. Keep job hunting. Don’t ever stop. I promise you there is a company out there that will treat you better, even if it’s the same work. Keep your head up.

You shouldn’t have to sludge through the day dreaming of a better life. Sure, the constant hunting for improvement is exhausting. I get it. I’ve been there. No one actually wants to spend their free time applying for endless jobs. Once you’re home from that hell, you just want to relax and de-stress. It’s absolutely understandable.

But what if that one job you didn’t apply for was actually the foot in the door to the career of your dreams? Somewhere amidst those rejection emails, there will be one asking for an interview.

Let me tell you what happens when you finally take that leap out of a job and into a new job. First, there’s the relief of “I don’t have to go back there” that washes over you. So much stress you didn’t even know was there is suddenly gone because you get out of a draining job that you had clung to.

Then there’s the disbelief. This job existed and then you actually got it? This is a series of events that finally happened and you were able to succeed and find a position that creates happiness? After the disbelief fades and you settle in to the new job, you realize that your boss listens to and implements your input. For once, you’re actually involved in your job and you realize hey, this could be a career. You could be in this for the long haul!

Worst case scenario with job hunting, you find another job that sucks away your soul but, hey, it pays more. This one you could hold on to a bit while you search for that dream.