An alarming 85% of working professionals want to tell their boss “I quit”, but never do…4 simple steps how you can change it!
What are you going to do about the job you hate? Wait until better times arrive or hoping for the best?
I`ve been there… and well it sucks. There is no better way to say it!
I was not alone! I was just part of the majority. I was part of the 850 million full-time workers that are not fully happy in their lives!
I dreamed of something else. I dreamed of living on my terms! I was already close to quitting.
But my fears pulled me back again and again! I was scared of losing my income. I was scared about the opinions of others. I was scared about the unknown.
It took me guts and faith, more than I imagined before. Finally, I decided to trade my well-paying job for a life on purpose.
Was it that smooth and great as most life coaches tell you?!… Not at all! It was a journey of ups and even more downs that put my life at risk.
I made many mistakes that I would not advice anyone to do! But I never regretted it!
Let me share with you WHY you have to quit your job if you are not happy with it and HOW you can do it easily without putting your life at risk!
I ) The Hard Reality
Looking at statistics, I doubt that you are satisfied with your job! Yes, I do, and I have a reason for it!
If you are an average person with a human body and mind (there are only a few superhumans I`ve met), there is an 85% chance that you don`t like your job! If you are on the other side, I am sure that you would have never started to read this blog post.
Yes, you heard it right: there is an 85% chance that you don`t like your job! My dear friend, you are just one of the 850 million full-time workers that are not fully happy in life!
That`s insane, considering that your job will mostly count one-third of your lifetime.
That`s not enough to shock you? Then let`s put it in numbers! If you are an average working professional, you will spend…
- 2,080 hours in a year
- 90,000 hours in a lifetime
…with something, you are not happy with. Something that makes you unhappy.
And for what? To earn the extra pennies for the next vacation that you would already need a few months before because you are stressed out? Or the next beautiful dress that will probably disappear in your wardrobe soon?!
II) The Consequences
Of course, we need to earn money to live and to take care of our family! That`s how the world works. And we should never, yes NEVER, lose sight of it!
But we also know that money won`t make us happy in the long-run. Many studies have proven this.
Money can buy hundreds of toys, but not the happy moments and valuable time with your kids. What matters is happiness and the feeling of satisfaction.
Instead of chasing our dreams and feeling free, we still follow what everybody tells us to do — Our system, our friends, our mind (this is often our biggest enemy). And instead of being happy, we get frustrated, angry, and stressed out.
Life passes by, and without realizing it, we suddenly lie on our deathbed, looking back at our own life.
What do we see? 90,000 hours of regret, because we never had the guts to change anything!
And with a 66% chance, you will also have developed at least ONE mental disorder or incurable chronic disease like diabetes or cancer on your way!
Do you know what the root cause for all of these issues is? I bet you already do! It`s stress caused by unhappiness!
Welcome to the real consequences of our modern life!
III) Why Is It So Hard To Quit?!
Enough with all the bad news! I don`t want you to read a post full of negative statistics — the world is filled with that. I want to help you!
If you followed me until here, I assume that:
- you don`t like or even hate your job
- you are aware of the possible long-term effects and consequences in case you don`t change anything
- you try to find out why you did not quit your job yet
If this sounds like you, then you have already much more clarity than most of the other 849,999,999 people have!
I already talked about the first two points. So let`s focus on point number 3 — Let`s become aware of why it is so hard to quit.
If the only constant in life changes, why is change then so hard? It seems to be risky, tough, expensive, and logically impossible. Yes, it`s not that easy to disrupt our routine life.
I am confident that you had at least one of the following six excuses. Follow me, and I will add some fresh perspectives to them.
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Excuse #1: Things might get better soon
How much I know this thought! If I don`t like something, I always try to push it away. I don`t like being surrounded by negative feelings. So what is the fastest and easiest way: to imagine that it will get better by itself — magically.
“Maybe I get promoted soon?! Maybe I get another boss soon?! Maybe…”, whatever your reason is why you don`t like your job, you might imagine a better future.
But what if nothing changes? What if the situation gets worse?
Do you remember the number 90,000 from above? Then you will spend 90,000 hours in your life with something you don`t like at all!
In my experience, there is a time element to this! If you just started your job, give it some time! Yes, things might get better. You might need a bit of time to get adjusted to the new working environment and your colleagues.
If you have carried this toxic seed “things might get better” already for a long time in your head, believe me: it won`t! It`s just the easiest way to leave at least a small kind of hope that things will magically change! Just that you don`t have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and change your life routine!
You have it in your own hands if things get better soon! Don`t wait for the magic!
The only way out is directly in, so face it!
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Excuse #2: I am not a natural quitter
Do you know what the following people have in common: Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Tiger Woods, Reese Witherspoon, and John McEnroe?
You guessed it! They all dropped out of Stanford.
I get it. People will argue something like “but they are different and successful. They are more talented. That`s why they didn`t have issues to quit.”
Totally wrong! They became successful and different because they quit and followed their dreams!
And I am sure that you already quit many times. You might have started an online course and dropped out of it. You started a new life project and quit it. I could go on with a long list of things you did once and stopped it.
Do you know why you stopped them even if you felt excited at the beginning? Because it just did not make it happy or satisfied.
You are a natural quitter! Everybody is! For some steps, we just need a bit more courage than for others!
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Excuse #3: I’ve invested so much in this job already
If you have already invested so much time and energy in your current job, what did it help you?
Your past time, past energy, and past dignity just brought you to a situation where you are unsatisfied.
You could have also invested the same time and energy to work on your dreams!
You could have invested the time and energy for another job that makes you happy.
Past is past! Take your energy as long as you have it and invest it in your future.
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Excuse #4: I am scared of the unknown
“I don`t know what will happen. Maybe I won`t get a better job, or my career break will lead me to a miserable life!”
If you imagine something like this, it`s not your fault. That is how our mind works. Thousands of years back, we got threatened by wild animals and dangerous situations. Of course, we needed to build a life-saving system to be naturally distrustful of things we don`t know.
But our life changed…unfortunately our mind did not.
I know it can be hard to imagine the positive sides if we are in a bad situation.
But what if your new path would be the best decision of your life? What if the new job would make you happy and satisfied? What if you could earn good money and could still have valuable time with your kids and family?
The wild animals in your head might be your best friends — you need to view it from another side!
Ask yourself what is more frightening: the thought of being miserable day after day at a job you hate, or the thought of the unknown?
If you asked me, I would know the answer!
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Excuse #5: If I quit, I’ll lose my salary and the recognition of my peers
To quit can be scary! We all depend on our salary, and we care about the recognition from our peers (even if we don`t want to admit it).
But only a few ask this question: What is the price of staying in a job that makes you unhappy?
We might earn a good salary right now, but by staying at our current job we will pay a higher price later on.
We might ruin our family life, partnership, self-esteem, and the connection to our peers — the ones` recognition we care about so much. Of course, this will not happen at once, but step by step over a long period.
I tell you, I was not different:
“I imagined images of my angry boss, predicted negative reactions from my colleagues and friends. I saw my future-self looking at this moment and regretting a wrong decision. All these anxious thoughts looked like real images in my mind in that split second. My mind was running on autopilot, and I had no chance to stop the traffic. Within moments, my positive plan for my new future had been replaced by gaping doubt.”
This is just a short summary of the feelings I had at that time, which I recently wrote about in my Personal Development Memoir Breaking Out, Awakening Within.
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Excuse #6: I need the money. My family depends on me!
So now, after we have broken all of the mental hurdles, it comes down to money. Oh yes, that`s an interesting one!
I am not talking about the money which you might need for the extra 5-star dinner at night or the extra inches of a new television.
If you are thinking about this kind of money, the luxuries of our modern world, then you should go back to #5. Learn how not to worry about the opinions of others. That is not you who needs all of this!
I am talking about the money we need to live. The money we need to buy groceries, to pay our bills, and for all necessities in life! The money ensures that we have proper medical care and that we can ensure a great future for our kids.
That is the kind of money I am talking about!
#1 to #5 were all arguments made up by your imagination, made up by your primal instincts. Nothing to worry about! Nothing that should keep you away from a happy life.
Nevertheless, there is still a little problem: the good old money from Uncle Sam. We can`t survive without that and we need to create a plan for it!
IV) Create Your Plan To Quit!
What do you usually do if you plan a vacation and you don`t know if you have enough money? You plan it, right?!
Is this any different from quitting your job for some time to follow your dreams?
You might argue that you will need more money. You are right! Of course, this will be a kind of extended vacation, and you will have to plan accordingly.
You might argue that this is different and quitting your job is harder than going on vacation.
Waaaaait! Didn`t we just talk about this before?! I repeat it: You should do everything to live a happy life, not a life to make money that won`t make you happy.
So let`s not search for excuses again. You are already close to get full clarity and to understand how you can make it happen!
Instead, let`s make a plan and break it down into manageable steps!
Plans make any idea actionable. Without a plan, we just have an idea in our minds.
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#1 Reflect on your current situation
We already talked a lot about your current situation, but let`s try to summarise it.
Try to mirror what`s going on in your head! What are the things that make you unhappy? What are the things you want to change? What are the things you would like to see differently?
The more clarity you have, the better! This will all help you to set your goal and intention.
Tipp: Sometimes, it can be hard to reflect on something that has been gathered over months, if not even years. If I want to reflect and to understand my current situation, I try to note down all the things I notice over a while. One week is a good start here. Afterwards, you can summarise your findings.
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#2 Set your intention and goal
Now you are clear about what you want to change. Let`s discuss what you want to do!
What do I mean by that? Life is a huge buffet where you can choose what you want. Some things on the table might be your favourites, others not.
Everybody has a different taste, right?
That`s why you need to be clear about YOUR situation. Let`s be clear about what YOU want to do and let`s not restrict yourself again by the opinions of others or the things the world seems to tell you! This is not the right way to get closer to what you want!
Do you plan to take a career break to travel the world or to discover yourself? Do you have the dream to build your own business; to be your boss? Whatever it is, define it! Make it clear where you want to be!
This is not for anyone else! This is what YOU want!
Here are a few examples what I would ask myself:
- If I want to get another job — which are the qualities I am searching for? What should be different from my current work? In which environment am I feeling happy? What do I need to be successful in my new job?
- If I want to take a sabbatical — What is the purpose of it? Is it for self-discovery, volunteering, getting a break from my busy life…?
- If I plan to be my boss — What do I want to do? Am I already clear that my idea will be successful or should I test it on-thy-job? What will I need to be successful (funding, partners etc.)?
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#3 Which fears are stopping you and how can you overcome them?
We already talked about that, I know! But we just analyzed our current situation and we know where we want to go! So what is holding us back?
Even if we are already aware about our fears that are stopping us, it`s good to write them down. Take a pen and paper.
If I make a major decision in my life, I always create a column of the things that scare me most. At the same time I add another column next to them and write down what could happen if things turn out positively.
When I do that, I turn my evil thoughts into positive ones which give me an extra motivation to go over to step #4.
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#4 Plan it and set your budget
We know WHY and WHAT we want to change. We have defined our goal. Yeah, we know where we want to go!
Now it`s time to define How we can make it happen! We need a timeline and a budget for our plans.
We need to fill the gap between your current situation and your desired outcome. This will give you the final clarity.
Can you already take the bold step and quit your job? Do you still have to work for a few months to save some extra money for it?
If you can`t afford to leave your job today, then make a plan when you can. Even this will get you closer to a happier life.
Money and time are the two variables that you need to plan. For nearly every dream, there is also a solution. Some might take longer than others, but having a clear dream, and plan in front of you will immediately uplift your life!
V) Conclusion
I think now you know why you should quit your job if you are unhappy with it! It`s just not worth staying if you know the consequences I explained above.
Instead, I encourage you to chase your dreams.
With the 4 easy steps I shared above, you can get from a state of unhappiness to a state of excitement about your future!
So what are your dreams?
PS: If you want to read about my personal experiences, you can get my book Breaking Out, Awakening Within. I am writing about my inner feelings when I decided to quit my Manager job and share the incredible life lessons that I only learned by doing it. I hope this will help you!
