The Millennial Generation is Re-Thinking Work & What It All Means. Below is a story from a young professional who had the courage to “Just Quit”. He has started his own blog at http://workforworkssake.com. With his background as a recruiter and a world traveler; he is definitely one to watch. Below is David’s story of how he “Just Quit”:
My name is David Griffiths, I am a 27-year-old professional recruiter… At least, I will be until July 2014.
I have “just quit” my job.
It was one of the most empowering experiences of my life and I wish to share what I went through with everyone who needs help.
I found my help from several sources but Just Quit & Live had some truly inspiring words that resounded with me; they gave that extra bit of courage to go ahead and do it.
With little experience of the working world, I jumped straight into my first job – as a recruiter. I have had very high and very low points throughout the job (4.5 years). Whenever I thought about quitting, the status quo effect kicked in – “I can’t be unemployed, I have to work, it’s what people do”. So I just carried on, watching the clock some weeks and getting to the end of a quarter (when we got our bonuses) to find myself saying: “Hey! This isn’t so bad after all!”.
I have always questioned our approach to work – “why on earth do we spend 40-50 years of our life working 48+ weeks of the year?”
I have quite a passive character and have a strength/weakness that most people suffer from; I’m a pleaser. I need people to feel at ease with me, to be able to trust me that I will try to do my best for them and won’t let them down. I think it’s one of the traits of naivety that you get from being thankful for everything and not expecting thanks back – “they pay my salary and bonuses, how else should they be thanking me?” In plenty of ways that you can’t even imagine… Or you may get to if you read Just Quit & Live and Work For Work’s Sake!
I took an amazing round the world trip just after I left higher education.
When I came back, I “needed to get my career started”. Since then (2008), I haven’t been abroad. I felt that spending one or two weeks somewhere was not enough to experience that place in full. So I started to save money. I rent a property; I never felt settled enough to commit to buy a house… Even though I was in a secure, permanent job. Alarm bells started to ring.
I was in the rut of scraping in just on time; getting up when it was physically the latest it could be to just about make it on time.
My alarm clock had become my enemy.
I had been saving money for a long time and I had no idea what to do with it until recently; I was going to quit my job. To cover my current monthly expenses, I had enough to last a couple of years.
When you hear the words in your head “I quit” and you start to say them out loud (to yourself), you start to imagine what it would be like to actually just do it. So many people get to this early stage but instead of taking action, suppress their feelings and let ‘reasoning’ kick in – “I can’t just quit”. Nonsense – even if you don’t go the whole way, there are things you can do to improve your working experience (work part-time, work from home, take on different responsibilities etc). Googling “I quit stories” every day at work is a sign that you are half way there already!
My partner is successful in her sales and marketing job and her company had spoken about a relocation program that came with a promotion. Nothing firm but absolutely good enough a reason for me to leave.
In my contract, I only have to give a week notice (in my industry, you can be asked to leave on the spot) so I was really scared that I would be given my marching orders there and then…
But why was I scared? I had given a lot to my job and my boss knew that.
I was afraid of what his reaction would be—Anger? Sadness? Disappointment?
But why was I afraid? We are on the same level as human beings.
If my company folded, the roles would be reversed and they would hold all the cards. I was doing him a favor by being honest and open – I did not have another job lined up (especially not one with a client or competitor).
So I planned my script, I read it out loud, I ran through it in my head a million times and with confidence (not) I pulled my boss aside to explain my medium term goals and that I would have to give notice. It didn’t quite come out that way – I burst into tears halfway through my first sentence! I gathered myself and the meeting went really well. It was unwelcome news but delivered in a welcome fashion.
He asked me to work a three-month notice period and I agreed. I even get to hire my replacement.
One of the reasons that I converted my desire to quit into actual action was the discovery of many like-minded bloggers and article writers on the internet. They gave me inspiration to do their stories justice and to follow in their footsteps.
I have started my own blogging site which will feature articles on employment issues, employment advice and inspiring stories. This can be found at http://workforworkssake.com
David did it, and now it’s your turn to EXPLORE. DREAM & DISCOVER the life that is waiting for you. It doesn’t matter where you live in the world, RE-THINK how you work, why you work and who you work for. Your Purpose is waiting on you to have the courgage to discover it; but sometimes you have to sail away from the safe harbor of the known port for the unknown port in order to find your purpose…don’t be afraid…