Be honest.
You are at your wits end with work.
You are looking at a career change or perhaps to start your passion business.
In your heart you probably have an idea of what you want to do but you are just scared and haven’t really thought things through. After all you’ve got bills to pay. It’s not so easy to just say ‘I quit’!
Kinda frustrating right?
Well chances are you may not need to quit your job, just yet.
You are thinking. Say what?
Hear me out. If you are receiving a benefit of some sort at your current job that outweighs the negatives you are experiencing, you may not need to call it quits just yet.
If you asked yourself the following questions, you may be surprised to find out what you are focusing on is not the problem.
Instead of needing to switch careers, you may find that the career is perfect for you. It’s just you have an awful manager or perhaps the job you are currently in is not utilizing the skill sets you enjoy using and that there are other jobs within the company that will play to your strengths that is in the similar field.
Or perhaps you know you want to start you own passion business because the corporate world is not for you. Awesome! But have you really thought about your ideas?
Why not buy some time to prepare for the transition?
You see many successful entrepreneurs have advised that the smart thing to do before quitting and deciding to start your business on a whim is to stay gainfully employed and do your due diligence first.
As Derek Sivers (Founder of CD Baby) said “Change careers like Tarzan. Don’t let go of the old one until the new one is supporting you. And make sure you don’t lose momentum.”
So if you are not being abused or you are not working in a toxic, unbearable environment, hang tight. Ask yourself:
1. What current benefit(s) (if any) are you getting and how important is it to you?
Perhaps your current job is a stepping-stone to building your skill sets to get you closer to what you want to do. Or it is buying you time to start your own business as you are saving and getting your plans in place. Or it could be something as simple as the commute time to work is convenient. It allows you to save time and pick up your kids and have time to spend with them after work.
Whatever it is make sure the benefits and the time you are putting in helps you in some way to progress to where you want to be.
2. What are your values?
Knowing your values are important. If you value freedom and creativity and the environment you work in is formal and conservative how satisfied will you be at your job? Or maybe your role offers freedom and creativity but you have a micro manager that is serious and uptight.
In these types of situations, understanding your values can help with figuring out the next question.
3. What about your current situation frustrates you?
Is it your manager? Your co-workers? Your work hours? The commute time to work? Not being recognized? No room for growth and advancement? Identify what frustrates you, what is not aligned with your values so that you can make your decision accordingly to improve your quality of life.
4. What is it you want right now? What would be better than what you have right now?
After identifying what you don’t want, ask yourself what is it you do want? Is it more time off, more freedom, more pay, less commute time, a nicer boss. How important is it to you to have what you want?
5. Can the company give you want you want?
Have you exhausted all your efforts and taken every action possible to ask for what you need and make your job workable?
6. Is there something left for you to do at work outside of your role?
Say you have exhausted all your options and you have decided to move on. You are currently staying in your job to buy time to bridge you to your next venture. In your next venture you have this vision of doing something to add more value or meaning to your life and those around you.
Don’t wait. Take a look now and see if there’s something left for you to do at work outside of your role that involves lighting up and lifting the mindsets of an individual or the culture of your organization.
Sometimes, we get caught up with the grandiose impact we want to leave, we forget that change starts within you, and that it starts one action at a time. The marks you leave along the way as you make a difference in a colleague’s life, or in an organization is what causes the ripple effect in the world.
If after reflecting on these questions you are still determined to quit your job, no one can stop you.
You know yourself and what is good for you. You deserve to be happy.
Just consider having a plan before you exit.
But again, the decision is yours.
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