Dancing Towards The Sunlight

I used to really like my job at the local phone company…I started working there in my 20s; great salary, union job with benefits. Over the past 26 years the company has become so corporate with its mergers and micromanaging. The stress is unreasonable and now with the new monitoring equipment, every key stroke is looked at.

Working in an environment that fosters creativity is no longer an option; you are just a number and are never heard. Bottom line is I hate my job. HATE with a passion. 

I leave work and my shoulders are so tight because I feel like I’m always hurrying up to do my job to make my numbers. Customers only matter in as much as the amount of revenue generated.

Corporate America goes against the very fabric of who I am: creative, passionate, and curious. So, I’m quitting!!

I’m giving up all of the financial perks of working there and decided to DO WHAT I LOVE. Life is too short. I’ll be 50 in a few weeks and want to enjoy what I do….I want to be creative….I want to make a difference in the world.

I am seeking employment in the nonprofit business sector and couldn’t be happier.

I feel as though I’m emerging from some hot, sticky, murky pond of goo and dancing toward the sunlight.

Thank you for sharing what you did….funny how we are given surprising gifts in life at just the right time.

~Worker Living in Pennsylvania

 

You too can emerge from the “hot, sticky, murky pond of goo and dance towards the sunlight”.

You might feel stuck, but it’s not cement that you are in – it is goo.

To let come the sunlight you have to let go of what is keeping you stuck in the goo.

Lose and Find Yourself In The Things That You Love

I am miserable every day.

I hate going to work on Monday’s.

I hate that I never see my husband.

I hate my hours and I hate my customers.

~Worker Living in Pennsylvania

You are reading from the book “Just Quit” & Live

Naming what we hate helps us determine what we love.

If you hate that you never see your spouse; then you know you need a job or opportunity that will allow you to be with them.

Don’t stop at just “hating”; balance it out with what you love.  Naming what you love will lead you to a lifestyle that includes what you love.

Take A Stand For Yourself For A Change

I wake up every day and wonder if this is all there is. I don’t believe I am doing the public any good. My company is purely driven by profit and I am not that type of person.

I truly want to do something to better the world.

My boss, though not a terrible person, buys into the corporate jargon.

I care about people and all I do is determine who to cut. It is truly depressing.

~Worker Living in PENNSYLVANIA

Today, take a stand. 

Take a stand for SOMETHING you believe in.

It doesn’t matter what that SOMETHING is, just take a stand. Until you can start TAKING a stand you will continue to waver and wonder exactly where you stand. 

Don't Give Up. Just Hold On. Hold On To Hope. Hope That Next Year Will Be A Good Year.

I’ve been working my butt off for almost nine years and have never gotten a promotion. I don’t make enough each month to do anything extra because I’m a single mom who just got her daughter through college and another one in Cosmetology School.

I have racked up $52,000 in parent plus loans.

I’m frustrated that in order to buy Christmas gifts this year I had to use credit cards and know that I will struggle for another 6 months next year to pay them off. I never am able to go out to dinner. I never am able to take a trip anywhere while all my friends my age are able to.

I also have every responsibility on my shoulders and between that stress and work stress I had a heart attack last year.

I’m sick of everything and want to make my life simple. I want to give up. I don’t even have the brain power to think up a plan let alone a penny to save for my “six months without a job” plan.      

~Worker Living in PENNSYLVANIA

You are reading from the book “Just Quit” & Live

Sometimes and some days it all seems impossible. 

We can’t keep up and we want to give up. Things just aren’t working out for us.  Things don’t seem fair and we don’t know why. 

It doesn’t seem like we are going to make it, but we are.  We are going to make it.  We have come too far to give up now. We have endured too much to give up now. 

Just hold on.  Life is about change.  Nothing stays the same.  This time will pass and we will get through it.

Think You Made A Mistake Taking Your Job? Remedy It.

I’m miserable here.

I’m being pushed very hard to do things that I don’t think I really know how to do and that are increasingly outside of the kind of work that I want to do.

The workplace demands a deep, personal commitment to the job – they want this to be a like my life’s mission and not just a job. I understand and support the organizational mission. I think the goals are worthy. However, this will NEVER be more than a job to me.

My performance is starting to slide, and I just don’t know how much longer I can endure.

I moved 3k miles, leaving my family, friends and hometown behind to take this job. This was a huge mistake. It’s time for me to remedy this mistake.

~Worker Living in PENNSYLVANIA

We all feel that we’ve made mistakes. We don’t have to beat ourselves up because of them.  We don’t have to stay; we can leave and know that we’ve learned a lesson. 

• Maybe we jumped at the first job offer. 

• Maybe we didn’t quite get all the facts before we decided to take the job.

• Maybe we were desperate to leave another work situation. 

But…are there really any mistakes if we learned from these situations? 

Would you have had all of this experience that you have if you hadn’t made a boat-load of “mistakes”? 

Don’t see your current job as a mistake, see it as a lesson.  

Smoke and Mirror Organizations...You Have to Decide...Does This Path Have Heart?

My work has no purpose, it helps nobody, and I don’t believe that the organization really cares about the results. They are simply interested in getting grant money from the government and have no intention to use that money to develop a product. I also don’t think the management has any idea what they are doing.

~Worker Living in PENNSYLVANIA

Count yourself lucky if you’ve never worked for an organization that is just smoke and mirrors. 

It’s a shell game.  It’s not real. Of course you don’t know it until you are inside of the shell, that it’s just hollow inside. Some of us have had this experience. Some of us are living inside of this experience now. 

Once you know you are in a hollow organization; it’s like anything else in this life; it comes down to if you are going to continue to play the game of “not real, but they’ve got money to pay me” verses “not real, and I can’t do this anymore”. 

That’s basically it. Just a decision.

Our lives are just a series of decisions that we make moment-by-moment that end up becoming…our lives.  

 You are reading from the book “Just Quit” & Live

P.S.

Googling about Robin Williams and other comics I found this graduation speech by Jim Carrey.  Once you get beyond the jokes in the beginning you will find great sage advice and an interesting picture that he drew.

 

It Does Matter How We Leave Our Jobs. We Need To Leave With Integrity and Dignity.

Being at a job for over 19 months that I didn’t go to school for is more than enough.

I need to gain experience and have an interest in what I am doing.

I don’t enjoy the majority of the people I work with.

My boss is an ogre who leaves for hours at a time only to give me minimal instruction or support.

I don’t have any benefits and the only thing that keeps me there is the pay which is higher than most jobs for people my age.

~Worker Living in PENNSYLVANIA

While we are on the job today we need to recognize that there is someone always watching.

Just like you are watching your boss and their actions someone somewhere is watching you.

Even if you are miserable, even if you are looking for another job, even if you say: “I don’t care.”; still think about your legacy after you are gone…and one day you will be gone…what will they remember about you?

What type of legacy will you leave there? These are just questions to consider.

It does matter how we leave a place.

We need to leave with integrity.

You are reading from the book “Just Quit” & Live

"I Wish I Woulda Worked My Just Quit Plan When I Stumpled On That Website That Day!" ~Your Future Self 10 Years From Now

I want to find my bliss.

I know I will never be happy doing what I’m doing now. I want to pursue my passions full-time, because I know how they make me feel compared to what I do now!

Even with the extra raise I’ve earned at my job, it’s not worth my happiness.      

~Worker Living in PENNSYLVANIA

You are reading from the book “Just Quit” & Live

Knowing that burning feeling of pursuing our passions is what “Just Quit” is about.  Knowing how it feels to jump out of bed. Knowing what happiness is to us and having that feeling day after day after day is worth more than any amount of money.

Once we deal with our fears about our finances (Step 2) we realize that we can move towards earning money doing something meaningful and worthwhile to the world. 

No regrets. NO REGRETS. Take Action. DO SOMETHING.

Wisdom Is Knowing The Right Path To Take...Integrity Is Taking It

It’s a telemarketing job. I really just started, but I feel like a horrible person by bugging people all day. It’s making me feel like the most annoying person ever even though I’m technically a robot.

I have ringing in my ears from having headphones on constantly and I’m not even doing what my boss says really. When someone tells me to take them off the list of people we call, I tell them “no problem!” and do so immediately. They always seem much friendlier that way. I mean the customer is always right I thought, but technically we aren’t supposed to do that.

Another reason I want to quit is because the company records all the calls for ‘training’ purposes, yet they don’t actually have that little robotic audio come on before my calls are connected to let the 2nd party know they are being recorded. I only know, and in the state of Pennsylvania, it’s illegal to record phone conversations unless BOTH parties give consent.

Another probably minute reason I want to quit is, because I had one call where the guy wasn’t even alive. I felt awful. Also, I don’t technically “need” the job. I live with my parents, so I don’t have to worry about bills. I plan on going to college in 9 months though, so it’s going to be a while. I would rather just not go back and find another job. 

~Worker Living in PENNSYLVANIA

Today, look at yourself in the mirror. Just stare at yourself.  Look in your eyes. Now ask yourself: “Does my job require me to do things that I don’t feel are right?”

Be Honest.

Just. Be. Honest.

Now, if indeed it does require you to do things that you don’t feel are right or is making you someone that you don’t recognize; ask yourself  how long you can continue to do this.

Remember you can DECIDE.

You are the decision maker for your life and life is just a series of decisions.

Make A Decision.