As a career check, please review the following statements and put an X by those that apply to you:

If you checked just one of the above statements, maybe you're just having a bad day. If you checked two or more, you're probably suffering from a self-inflicted malady called Comfortable Misery, a career syndrome characterized by inertia thinking and an overwhelming need to maintain the status quo. Victims of Comfortable Misery run efficiently on autopilot. They go through the motions of completing their projects and emptying their in-baskets, while experiencing little joy, learning or feeling of genuine satisfaction. They are zombies in business suits.

Why do these talented professionals cling to the jobs they hate? There are lots of reasons:

• Our country was founded by individuals who believed in the Puritan Ethic: we were put on this earth to atone for our sins, not have a good time. Americans continue to take this mindset to heart. Consequently, millions of workers define their work as a means of providing for their families and practicing productivity. They live to work, not work to live. The thought of enjoying their careers produces more guilt than pleasure.

• Along with the Puritan Ethic, Baby Boomers' parents have imbued their children with the Depression Mentality: "Never forget, you are lucky to have any job, let alone one you enjoy. Your work puts food on the table and a roof over your head. You labor to support yourself. Personal satisfaction is for dilettantes."

• Many very talented professionals question their marketability. Often they've been employed by one company for a number of years and find it difficult to believe anyone else will hire them. Because they have never built a network of colleagues outside their firm, they have no understanding of how their skills and experience can transfer to the world beyond company X.

• Confirmed optimists and pessimists tend to embrace the status quo. Optimists are sure things will get better if they stick around long enough. With relieved resignation, they put the responsibility for their careers in the hands of fate or their corporate leadership. Pessimists assume there are no truly satisfying positions anywhere, so why expend the effort looking for one. Isn't it paradoxical how two opposing attitudes both lead to the same paralyzing inertia!

• Golden handcuffs account for a lot of Comfortable Misery. A prestigious company, attractive compensation package, big title and the promise of more to come keep people from leaving jobs they hate. The thought of giving up an accustomed lifestyle can tether an unhappy executive to his corner office, when he longs to catch the e-commerce wave at the helm of a bare-bones start-up.

• "The Black Hole Syndrome" also keeps millions of unhappy professionals mired in unsatisfying careers. When a person is frustrated and unmotivated by a position that provides no opportunity to learn or make a contribution, doing his job can suck all the energy out of him. When just showing up at work each day is such a tremendous effort, he can't imagine looking for another job simultaneously. His situational depression also has a devastating effect on his self-esteem. Like the clinically depressed, people experiencing the Black Hole Syndrome can think they don't deserve to escape their current situation.

• Feedback from those we love and trust often causes us to rely on the status quo instead of pursuing something better. It's very common for people to stay in jobs they hate because their friends and family keep saying, "You're so good at what you do. Why would you ever want to change?"

• A comfortable work environment that doesn't expect too much, appreciates your work and surrounds you with friendly colleagues can be a very enticing place, even when the job leaves much to be desired. For those having motivational difficulties, it's a great place to veg.

• How many job seekers do you know who enjoy the process of finding another position? Probably not many. Lots of professionals stay where they are because they can't face the prospect of looking for a new opportunity. A job search is hard work, often full of rejection. Unless a merger or downsizing forces them into it, a number of dissatisfied careerists will sacrifice long-term gain to avoid short-term pain.

Like other syndromes that cause more damage to their hosts than immediately obvious, Comfortable Misery can inflict terrible consequences on its victims' cherished relationships and long-term happiness. The immediate depression, lack of self-esteem and lost opportunities for which this insidious malady is responsible, are only the tip of the iceberg. People who hate their work often carry hostile feelings into their personal lives where they infect their family and friends. They take out their career frustration on innocent victims at home. Or, their broken-record complaining drives a wedge between them and their loved ones. If you've ever been the target of an unhappy careerist's wrath or the dumpee for your spouse's or friend's ongoing job angst, you know that a little self-centered negativity goes a long way. Even family and friends can lose patience with a chronic complainer who shows no interest in taking responsibility for improving his situation.

Haunting recriminations at age fifty or sixty about "what could have been" come too late to recapture years spent marking time in a meaningless career. As the onset of the new millennium stridently reminds us, time is one commodity we cannot replenish.

Fortunately, Comfortable Misery is curable. There are a number of ways to extricate yourself from its grasp, if you are willing to declare tomorrow as the first day of the rest of your life. Below are a few suggestions to break your inertia:

• Start networking. Join a professional organization. Get involved in your church or a nonprofit group that interests you. Acquaint yourself with one new person per week.

Volunteer for a cross-functional taskforce at work. Suggest and implement a new project that will stretch your skills and benefit your company.

• Begin looking for a more satisfying career within or outside your company. If you don't know how to get started read a book, attend a job search course or work with a career counselor.

• Confront your catastrophic expectations. Contemplate your worst job change scenario. Put a percent probability on it, then a plan to deal with the situation in the unlikely event it should occur.

• Get some continuing education on subjects that interest you. Take a course to learn or reinforce an important job skill. Expand your horizons.

• Ask your friends and family to support and compliment your newfound motivation. Give them the chance to be your cheerleaders.

• Acknowledge that your career is one of the most important ways to fulfill your mission or purpose in life. Rather than thinking of work as penance or a necessary evil, use it as a vehicle to make a contribution to society that stirs your soul.