Before You Quit Your Job
Read this first
I’m sure you have read the articles about the “great resignation.”
“Four million Americans quit their jobs in April, a record high, according to the Labor Department. ” Michelle Fox, CNBC
You may be contemplating being part of the movement. Actually, maybe, itching for it because your belly feels excited about what is to come based on what you are hearing from others that they have followed their passion. You may also be like Guy in The Croods, you see yourself finding your “tomorrow” — the place where everything will be sunny, fun, full of life, and perfect.
You want to live your life full of joy.
You want to travel the world.
Reconnect with yourself like you never did before.
After all, as Covid has taught us, we may not get another tomorrow.
But before you quit your job…. I need you to take these questions into consideration.
I need you to take a moment and see if what you are deciding is the best thing for you.
I say this because I quit my job three years ago. It was not planned, more on a whim, and because of personal reasons. Mine wasn’t necessarily because I was following my passion or a “tomorrow,” but after I left it, I started following my passion and learned that the road is not a straight path.
Therefore, you have to be ready for it and willing to endure it.
And these questions will help you determine if you should join your fellow four million resignationists.
Are you following your passion?
The theory on passion is based on a beautiful and worries-free picture, but as I mentioned the road ahead is not as perfect as we make it to be.
For instance, in order for Guy & the Croods to get to “to tomorrow,” they dealt with almost end-of-world extinction, volcanoes, avalanches, eating flesh birds, almost dying, and a constant giant jaguar following them.
The passion road is not an easy one, and you have to be willing to endure it.
In reality, passion is a focus to keep you going, motivated, ingrained in your desire to no matter what happens to keep going. To stay hopeful. But rarely — unless you get the right sweet spot of components- does passion pay your bills.
To be fully fulfilled and make a living out of your passion, you have to have a combination of your skills, your likes, what we can get paid for, and what the world needs from you (the very essence of an Ikigai). However, passion is only based on what we are good at and what we love and that is not serving anyone but you.
Also, following our passion is a process, and we will yield to have many passions. Not only one. But many because that means we are evolving and getting wiser.
So before you quit your job based on pure passion or because you are searching for your “tomorrow,” think about it strategically. Understand that passion is a process and there are other ways you can fulfill those passionate juices.
Will your new world passion pay your expenses?
This is incredibly important. I think so many of us are told by coaches to follow our passion or start a business on pure passion, but the truth is… will your passion pay your expenses?
Is it a need?
Is anyone willing to pay you money for it?
If not, think again about quitting your job.
I know that many may tell you that people will pay you eventually, but eventually may take six months to a year and if you are not economically stable it will take a toll in which you are no longer going to be following your “tomorrow” but rather another opportunity to make ends meet.
Instead, make sure you have a “quitting fund” — a fund to pay your bills or medical expenses for the duration of your quitting phase.
Yes, this is a separate fund from the “emergency fund.” In the emergency fund, you can have 3 months of expenses saved up for emergencies (car breaks down, mom needs new dentures, the kid needs a brace, etc).
Is your job that bad? Is it really not filling up your cup?
This question is very important because most of the time when people quit is based on a feeling.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with that and there are expiration dates on jobs, but we often forget the reality that if we don’t work on what the true problem is (mindset, habits, systems, etc), then we will repeat what we are doing now in another company or in our other passion.
It is best to look at the facts and really see why is your job not working. Is it because of your manager? Is it because you have outgrown it?
What is really the cause of the feeling of “I want to quit.”
Once you are honest with the facts if your job or function is, then you can decide what to do.
The worst is resigning and then two weeks afterward feeling remorse because you realized that it was because you wanted new challenges that could have easily been provided by discussing them with your manager.
How long will the resignation take?
Provide yourself with a timeline.
I say this because time flies by, and 1 year may turn into 2 years, and then you are not sure of what to do next.
The best thing to do is to create a timeline of how long your resignation may take — 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year…..?
Then you can plan your finances and lifestyle accordingly.
DO NOT SKIMP ON THIS!
Do you really need to quit or can you take a sabbatical?
Instead of quitting have you thought about a sabbatical?
Sabbaticals are great because they allow you to reset.
I have a friend who takes sabbaticals every two years. He feels that he needs to get that reset button, and by doing a sabbatical he gets the chance to see his job in a new light. Also, it allows him to see what other opportunities inside and outside the companies are available without the constraints of delivering on his job.
It rejuvenates him.
How to take one?
See if your company provides them, reach out to the HR manager, and follow their process
If the company doesn’t provide it, negotiate with your boss a month or a certain period of time to take off beyond the 2 weeks, or take family leave (there are certain criteria to meet, go on your state's family leave site to know the criteria).
Are you really listening to yourself or what social media “gurus” are telling you is a possibility- creating your $1MM online business?
I get it. You are seeing it everywhere. Everyone is telling you know how greener it is on their end. How they left their job and are not multi-millionaires.
But at you seeing receipts?
Are you truly seeing the $1mm that some social media gurus are claiming?
Social psychologists call this a cognitive bias in which we all think or feel that when we see someone else’s life, it is better. Because we are discontent with what is going on, we often romanticize other people’s experiences since they are different from ours. We think — “their experience must be better than mine.”
The entrepreneur thinks being an employee is so much easier. An employee thinks being an entrepreneur means a lot of free time to do whatever they want.
But rarely do we gather enough information to see if what we are seeing is true.
The truth is entrepreneurs don’t have more time than employees do. Some entrepreneurs have never taken a vacation because of the demands of the company, while middle-class employees take on average two vacations a year. And some employees don’t have it easier. They still have to worry about many demands from the job and a boss to deal with at that.
Also, there is a little of social media algorithm manipulation going on. Yes, the algorithm is manipulating you. Accept it. It’s happening.
In every social media, algorithms are set to get you to buy or stay on. They are structured to curate a world where everything is perfect, and everyone is having a better life than you. It seems that everyone is following their passion, and hitting goals, and crushing sales.
I implore you to look in deeper. Question.
Also, quiet yourself and really ask - “ am I doing this for me? Or is it that I am so discontent that I am romanticizing and listening to the “gurus?”
This will allow you to discern if quitting your job should be your next step or not.
Adios until “Tomorrow,”
Clara