Is Your Job Killing Your Soul? Listen Hard and Move On.

Because it’s killing my soul.

I never wanted to be an engineer.

I want to finish my technical communication degree more quickly. I feel like I must.

~Worker Living in CALIFORNIA

We can get stuck in the safe professions that we fell into. 

Those professions may even pay well. 

We might be in respectable professions to the outside world…but they are ‘killing our souls’. 

If you are in the wrong profession today, just admit it and figure out when and how you can move on.

When Is The Last Time You Felt "Beautiful" About A Career Decision?

The scheduling manager at the organization I work for has decided to give me shifts that are the death knell for any associate–shifts that she has stated she cannot work because she has a family. I have always made it clear that I am only available for part time work because I have family obligations and health concerns that make part time hours a must. However, there has been one reason after another that this manager has needed me to not only work double the hours I signed on for, but also mainly night hours, heavy weekend loads, and shifts that start at store open and end at store closing.

I became physically ill and my family life was suffering tremendously. My son failed his first class ever in seven years of schooling. My last blood pressure reading was 160/120. I had to head straight to the hospital.

My garage was broken into while my kids were home alone during a shift I was called into without sufficient time to line up child care (they are 11 and 14). It was one of those, if you don’t cover this shift, don’t ever come back type of call-ins. I figured out that my manager was using the full-time gal to babysit her son in exchange for reduced hours and weekends off–which she conveniently gave to me.

I actually quit today and the best part was knowing that the scheduling manager would be the one who would have to cover my closing Friday and closing Saturday shifts…and I get to go to my son’s football game tomorrow…something I have not yet gotten to do since starting this job in late June.

I woke up this morning depressed and dreading the idea of even going to use the bathroom to start my day…I literally laid in bed, legs crossed, unable to move. That is when I knew something was dreadfully wrong with this situation. I felt like once I got out of bed, I’d talk myself into just dealing with it, sucking it up, and going in.

I’m not ashamed to say that two weeks’ notice in my case was not an option…I’m a people pleaser and my boss knows how to wind me around her finger. What I know she did not see coming was the phone call today and subsequent resignation email. As well as my follow up with the district manager about my manager’s abuse of her scheduling authority.

My sales numbers/quotas/CPI’s are so amazing, the DM is going to be at least slightly interested in knowing why they lost an employee as good as I was. I was the only employee with a degree, and I was a customer favorite. My kindness however, was taken for weakness. My husband is the breadwinner and I took this job because it was in the field of sales and beauty and I have a background in business and cosmetology. I was hired on the spot and I gave my all…then I started to be taken for granted and used. I offered to work extra hours to cover for an employee who abruptly quit; that was two months ago.

I continuously told my manager that I could only work part time with no more than two closing nights per week. She smiled, said she would see what she could do and for the past month she has scheduled me full time hours, closing 4-5 nights, with at least 2 of my shifts being open to close hours.

My doctor suggested I either cut back my hours or find another occupation. I quit this morning. I feel beautiful (weird adjective for this situation, I know) inside and out. My mom is coming for a visit next weekend and I am absolutely tickled that I have extra time to spend with her. By the way, I was only making 600 bucks a month. What a joke. I can make more selling my homemade pralines, and I think I will be trying my hand at that.

~Worker Living in ARIZONA

Sometimes we can’t give the standard two weeks’ notice.  The situation just doesn’t allow it. Feeling “beautiful” is when you KNOW that you have done the right thing regardless of what anybody else thinks.

Feeling “beautiful” is what “Just Quit” is about.

When is the last time you felt “beautiful”?

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.  

Being Bullied At Work? Stand Up For Yourself.

I am being bullied at work and my work is not what was promised to me.

It is demeaning and unfulfilling.

The organization has closed ranks around the bully. I have no allies.

~Worker Living in FLORIDA

Sometimes we have to stand up for ourselves.

As adults we don’t have to fight the bullies, just like we didn’t have to fight them when we were in high school.  We recognized who the bullies were and we created a plan to deal with them.

Workplace bullies are no different than the high school bullies. Most people are afraid of them, so for a period of time they get away with their bullying. They taunt you until you stand up to them.

You have to stand up to them.

You can also stand up to the bully by working your “Just Quit” plan.

The sooner you can walk into that job and ANYDAY of your choosing you can leave is a GOOD day.

Even if you don’t leave you won’t be afraid of standing up to them because you’ll have “Just Quit” Power.

Prepare yourself so you can stand your ground.

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

Be Honest With Yourself About Your Job

I dislike what I do. I chose my profession as the backup to the career I really wanted. I have not moved into the career that I wanted and my chosen career takes all my time.

Every day, I wake up depressed about going into my job. I even cry in the shower and the car on the way to work. I am so emotionally drained from the work week; I don’t have any energy to pursue my passions.

I shy away from friends and family because I don’t want to talk about my job, and perhaps show how depressed I am to anyone.

I believe it has started to cause health problems from all the stress.

~Worker Living in GEORGIA

We have to face facts, first to ourselves then to others. 

We have to be honest with ourselves.

If we are hiding the truth about the situation even to ourselves we will remain stuck…year-after-year-after-year. 

We’ll look up and one day we’ll be close to old age and we didn’t do anything in our work-life that mattered to us or that we were passionate about.

Today, be honest with yourself. 

Tell yourself about how you feel about your current job. 

Just be honest, even if it is painful to accept.

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

No More Excuses

I’ve been ready to leave since 2010 but fear and money has kept me from making the decision.

There is nothing wrong with the job or the people, but I know in my heart this is not what I want to continue to do, because it fills me with dread every day. The feeling has only grown worse over the years.

In 2010 I set up a website which is my ultimate dream of being able to earn my income, but working full-time is making it very difficult to spend the time I need on my website.

~Worker Living in UNITED KINGDOM

That’s it.

Today, if you have a website or a blog and you love working on it, then work on it.

WHILE you are working this job that “fills you with dread”; WORK ON YOUR OWN THING.

If working on it brings you joy, then great. Even if you don’t make a dime for YEARS you have given yourself joy working on something you are interested in.

Something will break.

You’ll figure out a way to make money on it, or something else that interest you.

No more excuses.

 

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

Skydive Into Your Future

I’m not professionally happy and feel undervalued in my current role.

My job no longer motivates me to work hard and contribute 100%.

I also feel burnt out after 15 years of working at high speeds in a high demand environment.

I have a decent bit of money saved up (enough for at least 4-6 months) and feel confident that I can tap my network for consulting opportunities to fill the gap in long- term employment.

~Worker Living in NEW YORK

After you have worked the Steps and the kinks in the plan then it’s time to take the “Just Quit” Step…it feels strange…even when you know-that-you-know AND you are prepared…it still feels strange. 

You can’t believe you are actually going to do it.

It’s like skydiving. You know you’re going to land somewhere you just don’t know where, when or how. (Don’t let that example scare you).

You’re so use to knowing where you are going to land before you leave a place.  You don’t know this time because there is no job to go to.

You are not getting laid off. This is a decision you are making, but it is a decision you are prepared to make. You have saved enough money and here you are at the jumping off point. 

There is all this opportunity. 

There is all this possibility.

It’s wide-open for you.

You just have to take that final Step and fly into your future.