My Worst Enemy is My Job — “Should I Quit My Job?”
Most of the time a job is what holds people back because they conform and stay mediocre.
“Most who avoid quitting their jobs entertain the thought that their course will improve with time or increases in income. This seems valid and is attempting hallucination when a job is boring or uninspiring instead of pure hell. pure hell forces action, but anything less can be endured with enough clever rationalization. Do you really think it will improve or is it wishful thinking and an excuse for inaction? If you were confident in improvement, would you really be questioning things so?” — Tim Ferriss
Before you read this post, I want you to read about the quitting rate of 1.9 percent and the layoffs and discharge rates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.
Should I quit my job, is a question that passes through many people’s minds. Especially when we don’t enjoy what we do, but are forced to do it because of responsibilities. Let’s be honest, even if you did want to quit your job you’re never in a position anyways, right.
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” — Mark Twain, author.
You see everyone wants more, but not everyone gets more. Why? Because we all want things to come to us easily. As a matter of fact, people want to outsource just about everything. From hiring someone to take care of their children to having someone drive them around. Heck changing the channel to the Television is too much and I’m talking with a remote.
For many people who work, you can tell they are unhappy. It’s not a secret, but we hide it like it is. Force smiling, pretending like we don’t want better. Have you ever walked into a Wal-Mart and seen a smiling employee. If you have please take a picture and email it to me, because I don’t see much of that in my town.
Let me tell you a quick story about myself. My first job, as you can guess it was Mcdonald’s. I woke up, went to work, and did what I had to. This was my first, so I didn’t know much. I didn’t get upset when the boss said I moved to slow when Joe was clearly moving slower than me, nor did I flip when she stood outside the drive-through window watching me work and take orders, constantly putting the squeeze on me. For her, fast was slow, and super-fast wasn’t fast enough. So she fired me. Called me into the office and said it’s just not working out. I wanted to beg for another chance, but unlike many people, my pride was too high to ever do such a thing.
I was fired after 28 days. Can you believe it, 28 days? I was the laughing stock when my friend told one of the other managers I filed my taxes and only made 90 dollars.
I became more experienced as I found other work, and things came down on me harder now that work was farther and I had no car and I had to start paying rent. Job after job and it all ended the same, but I had two jobs that dug under my skin as I became more and more depressed, getting stomach pains and heartaches. But what’s funny is I wasn’t a bad worker. I sacrificed time with my girlfriend to get extra hours, which was more like me being there for the boss when he was behind schedule on things. I was the worker you showed something once and I’d say ok and do it better and never complain… But, that wasn’t good enough.
I tell you this story not to complain or cry about it, but because I know many people can relate. Your alarm rings and you can’t wake up. Either you’re still tired or you’re just dreading going to work. When you finally muster the courage to do so. You feel as if a refrigerator just drops on your head as soon as you step foot through the door. What’s worst, most likely you have no interest in the job. I mean, who the hell gets excited about stocking? Who the hell wants to make their career as a stocker? Seriously. There’s nothing more draining than a job that has nothing to do with your ultimate goals or personal interests. Regardless of what you’re being paid, you’ll never be truly happy and yes this unhappiness, like the dark ooze that leaks from the walls will slowly ooze into other areas of your life. Work is one reason men beat their wives and women take their frustration out on their kids.
Do you know how stuck one feels when fallen into a routine, constantly fighting boredom? Work felt like deja vu to me. Move pallets, stock juice, zone, and repeat. Worse than the boredom was the employees, who complained like there was no tomorrow. I wish they complained about something new, but nope. Same thing over and over. No wonder I felt like an outcast. It was draining, so I stayed to myself and meditated on my breaks to stabilize myself.
I never knew how bad stress could get. Stress will cause you to lose and gain weight, experience anxiety attacks, or excruciating body pain. You can even develop heart problems and possible mental illnesses, from being so stressed for so long, and like many people in America myself included want to commit suicide. What is it, 3 out of 5 Americans are on antidepressants or mood stabilizers?
It’s not easy quitting a job. Too many people are afraid of confrontation and won’t face up to the boss, others are afraid of what the future holds. “What if I quit and I can’t find another? What if I end up finding another job and that boss is worse? I mean minus the emptiness inside, it’s a good job so why ruin it, I get decent pay. Right?” wrong! Is money really worth your happiness? If it is then by all means stay. It’s a scary thing to quit a job especially when you have responsibilities and can’t afford it. If you’re contemplating so much on quitting, then, of course, you can’t afford it.
How can the single mom with two kids afford to quit her job? It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. — Take JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series. Her mother suffered from an illness and passed away. Her marriage had failed, and she was jobless with a dependent child living on welfare. During this period Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression and contemplated suicide. But she still made something of herself. It’s hard, but it’s not impossible.
See the changes around you
I knew work was bad when I was having nightmares that seem so real and it was about the job and boss. I had no time for sleep and no time for myself. I came on as a temp and kept an open schedule, which was an obvious mistake. Every other week they’d schedule me eight days straight, putting my day off at the very end making it fall into the next week. When you work overnight and you have two days off days apart, you use it for sleeping to recover for work.
Tell me how you feel when your boss screams at you like some child. Knowing you can’t do anything about it, or else… you’re fired. To go to work and slave away and be treated worse than a dog. How do you feel?
I mean you must see the changes that are going on around you. Most jobs that existed 20 years ago aren’t needed anymore. Who the hell needs personal assistants anymore when you can outsource it for a much lower cost with better productivity? Jobs are either being replaced by technology or being outsourced to a different country. One of the jobs I worked for told at least two people to not come to work anymore, because I did my job and theirs better, so they weren’t needed. I feel no shame in saying that. It’s survival of the fittest.
A lot of people when they were hired, they were recommended by family members who also helped them learn the job faster. I had to qualify and learn after trial and error because this job did no training, they just put you on the floor and say “This needs to be done.” It was hard, but I learned and retained better. At my final job, before I quit after three weeks, a man who’s been there for 15 years was fired. Just like before, I took over his position. Myself and a few other newcomers. It was out with the old and in with the new.
But seriously do yourself a favor and really think about it here, because the raise isn’t going to make you happy, but because most people are suckers, corporations use that to keep people from quitting. Yes, I’ve seen this done! I would prefer you to quit the corporate world permanently, but not everyone is built to be a rebel or an entrepreneur, some people are meant to be workers. Now don’t get me wrong, some jobs are needed because they actually bring value to this world, but at the end of the day you need to find something you like or just quit, but don’t be dumb about that’s all. Work on your dream or goal while there, this ensures you take less risk.
Remember this if you don’t remember anything else. A job’s purpose is not to make you rich, its purpose is to pay you just enough not to quit.
“You shouldn’t focus on why you can’t do something, which is what most people do. You should focus on why perhaps you can, and be one of the exceptions.” –Steve Case, AOL Co-Founder and CEO
Related Post — Why Most People Aren’t Rich and Will Never Be Rich!
