5 Reasons to Quit Your Job
#1: You have an unfulfilled dream
“Never give up on your dreams” sounds like a cheesy anime line; but truly, giving up will carry irreparable consequences. I’m not suggesting that your dreams or passions will never change. In fact, if you’re learning from life and growing, of course your dreams will change paths. Instead, I’m suggesting that whatever your current dream is, it’s worth exploring.
We can become our own worst enemies, and the barrier to our own personal success, by choosing to stick with a job we hate. We can become hindered by the mentality that “it’s too late” or “I’m too old” or “I missed my chance” to do what we fantasize about doing with our lives.
Some refer to this dream as a “calling” from god, or the universe, to fulfill a higher purpose. Don’t give up on your calling. You may not need to quit your job to follow this path towards your passion. Your job may actually assist you in moving towards the goal by paying for a vacation you’ve always wanted to take, or starting a charity organization. If your job can help, then stick with it. But make sure your dreams are being actualized, with or without your current job. Carpe Diem.
#2: You don’t feel a sense of purpose
In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, the famous concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankyl recalls a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche: “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bare with almost any ‘how.’” Frankyl uses this message as a touchstone lesson for how he and others survived the horrors of The Holocaust.
Not that your sense of purpose must come from your chosen career; but, if you don’t feel a sense of purpose somewhere in your life, be it from family relationships, a hobby, religion, or a volunteer service, you may consider finding purpose in a line of work. Purpose is the spice of life. It’s what gives each day and each moment it’s flavor and meaning. No matter what we’re doing each moment, if the actions moving us forward have no underlying purpose, they are essentially wasted moments.
Time is a nonrenewable resource. Despite current circumstances, the worst of which Frankyl himself suffered, it’s possible to maintain or even discover a sense of purpose each day. This is the answer to the meaning of life.
#3: You’re not utilizing your skills and talents
Oprah Winfrey once described her first TV talk show experience by saying “it was like breathing.” And that’s what she recommends for us all: “Your true passion should feel like breathing; it’s that natural.”
When you’re utilizing your natural aptitudes, your job should give you a sense of ease and comfort. It should come naturally. Like breathing. Studies on career fulfillment have shown that people whose jobs allow them to use their natural talents and abilities are the most satisfied with their career paths and the happiest in their work.
Again, this concept doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to the work environment. If you don’t find the opportunities to show off your best skills and talents at work, there may be opportunities to use them at home with your children, at your place of worship, with a hobby, or volunteer service. But one thing is for certain, there should be an oasis in your life where you’re able to practice being your best self and shine bright with your natural born talents.
One such program that helps you to discover these talents is YouScience @ https://www.youscience.com/
I personally took this test recently and was so thankful I did. It helped me to identify and conceptualize my talents in a concrete and practical way. It gives a lot of information on your strengths that would be relevant in a work place and explains why certain jobs may or may not be the best fit. Currently, the test costs $39, and is well spent.
#4: Your job is monopolizing your time in an unhealthy way
In Bronnie Ware’s 2009 blog post entitled “Regrets of the Dying,” she writes about her experience as a hospice nurse, making notes of people’s death bed regrets throughout her career. One of the most common regrets people have at the end of their lives is that “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.” Bronnie explained that people deeply regretted prioritizing their work over their relationships, especially their children and family.
Working at jobs that suck the life out of us, especially if we’re fixated on making money by offering overtime, is exchanging our personal time for cash. Even if your job moves beyond money and performance into a higher purpose or helping others, when we neglect our relationships to fulfill a calling, we are making a sacrifice. Working in excess can leave us at the end of life, wishing we had spent more time with the people who matter to us most. Some of us are failing to make memories and build stronger bonds with our loved ones. We might even be compromising our health and mental well-being, causing damage to our true selves by compromising our values for workplace success.
Only you know how much time your job deserves. Just remember that your choices matter, and hardest of all, remember that you actually do have a choice. Because of our capitalist culture and the urge to climb the corporate ladder to success, fame, and fortune, it’s common to feel like you “have to” work overtime, or work in excess of your baseline responsibilities. When evaluating your time as a valuable commodity, take a step back from the ladder. Take a few steps back. Look around you. Look up. Look down. What else are you missing out on by climbing this ladder? Family? Friends? Peace? Sitting on the beach, reading a good book with a cocktail? Are you satisfied with how you’re spending your time at work and at home? Maybe a 6 figure job isn’t what you actually want, but you’re working compulsively with your gears turning endlessly from a learned habit of people pleasing.
Again, this is not a strict rule. Your job may be your passion and totally worth spending 12 hours a day, 7 days per week. Your work family might be your tribe. If that’s you, then keep climbing. But if you’re feeling unsatisfied in a job where you’re spending time that will never return to you, reconsider how you spend time your.
Budget your time with the same care and urgency that you budget your money!!!
#5: Your job is not aligned with your values
Workplace burnout has always been a thing, but seems to have moved into the pop psychology culture since COVID. Especially for healthcare workers, educators, and the service industry, compassion fatigue and burnout is a problem in our culture.
Although it’s true that our happiness comes from within, and exposing ourselves to challenging environments can be a healthy way for us to build our emotional coping and intelligence skills, there is a line that can cross into self sabotage when we choose to stay at a place of work that is stealing our peace. There are work environments in which, no matter how emotionally intelligent it’s employees are, the environment itself is toxic to your mind and body. Sure, you could use some behavioral psychology to learn to make peace with your current situation, but that doesn’t equal thriving if your job is truly detrimental to your mental health.
Even prior to the pandemic driven great resignation, ZDoggMD addressed this problem of moral injury in our work culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_1PNZdHq6Q
Nurses are the most assaulted profession second to police officers. Besides actual physical and verbal abuse, professionals are choosing to exchange higher wages from their long dedicated careers for the peace of doing something they find more aligned with their values, and which allows them to practice autonomy. The expectations of staff within the healthcare system in America are unrealistic. The veiled values of the organization lead to questionable integrity, such as prioritizing money above the safety of patients and nursing staff.
I also recommend this podcast episode on Psychologists Off The Clock which addresses moral injury in the veteran community.
What are your values? If your place of work is frequently forcing you to abandon your values in exchange for a paycheck, consider being loyal to yourself, rather than a company.
If you’re looking for a cool way to quit your job, check out my favorite job exit ever from Half Baked
For more information on career aptitudes:
https://www.hallam-ics.com/blog/aptitudes-your_natural_gifts
Thanks for joining me for Tea Time, friends. Until next time, put some honey in your tea, and let’s keep going deep.
