5 Ideas On Why Quitting A Paying Job In Favour Of The Life You Love Isn’t Such A Bad Idea

This is a question that many of us contemplate at some point along our journey. The statistics indicate that 83% of us are unhappy or dissatisfied with our current jobs. I would draw the conclusion that if this is the case then the satisfaction with your life would also be lessened. Why? Because for most of us work takes up about a third of our time and for most of us what inflicts pain or displeasure on one aspect of life usually blinds us in other aspects of our life. I conclude that if we are truly unhappy then many of us do contemplate the thought of quitting our day job to pursue greater passions. And why the heck not?

There are a few reasons why we stop asking this question and resist taking action on the idea of quitting our job. Here are some thoughts and while it’s not all inclusive for many of you I am sure you can relate.

• Fear. There is much fear around these ideas and it will really depend on your individual situation in life and how heavily this job has played in the role of defining your Self. The ego is a master of keeping our Self-definition alive and the risk of attack on this brings on fear. Fear is truly a survival mechanism but nowadays it seems to trap or limit us. The thought to change our job will do this.

It is like someone questioning who we are. It is a hard to answer such a question and part the reason why the ego doesn’t like it because if it struggles to define itself than what or who does it become. We challenge our ego’s existence. We challenge who we are. Who we are is simply a creation and we have therefore the ability to recreate this if we truly desire to put ourselves into another story.

Much of the fear that comes about arises from our ego. Will you be judged by family or friends, how will you continue your house payments, what about all the years of work you’ve put in. The list of fears spreads wide and deep. These are stories about who we think we are and think we need to continue to be.

Try to see beyond this because once the change has been made your ego will find new definition and attach itself to new meaning. And while the feeling attached to the fear that may come about is real enough the why behind the fear is usually a lie. Fear is based on nothing real or tangible and therefore is as real as the vision of our future self that we desire to create and the only way to get there is to move through your fears.

I believe fear should be a signal for us to take action and if no action is taken fear will linger or our dreams will vanish.

• Uncertainty. Humans love uncertainty in life but we also crave certainty. The idea of quitting a well-paid job to pursue our passion and other interests is scary because it disrupts our certainty. How will you keep the level of lifestyle you’ve become so adjusted to? How will you support the family, keep up the car payments or afford to go on that next holiday? All valid and very logical reasons to hold onto that dissatisfying job, right?

When we become stagnant and too certain about life however how then do we seek to fulfil that uncertainty piece in life we lust for? We delve into activities that take us out of the realm we live in. We tune into episodes of The Walking Dead because the idea of something so unreal excites us. We take drugs and get drunk to shake things up a little. We become addicted to reliance on outside stimulation to manipulate our stagnated lives in an attempt to make ourselves believe we are actually enjoying life, but we are not.

Quitting your job may actually be the healthier option to keep alive the adventure and uncertainty of life. And to be honest isn’t life about how you want to feel? And how do you want to feel, happy? Yes, there is lack of certainty that will abound you when you leave your job but what certainty do you have that by staying where you are will bring you greater levels of happiness as time passes?

I have greater certainty in following the path that I set out for myself than following the path someone has laid for me. The uncertainty of my own path is also much more rewarding in pursuit than the alternative. When it comes to uncertainty in making a career change be confident in knowing that perhaps there is actually greater certainty.

• Responsibility. Oh the responsibility of our lives. Since when did we have to be so freaking grown-up anyway? Who thought this would be an enjoyable way to live life? Fuck that! Life is to be enjoyed and if we take things so seriously I am sure that will lesson this experience. Now that is a very irresponsible statement!

Most of the responsibilities that we have, we have put here ourselves. We create conditions in our lives that we then become prisoner to. They are duties that we are to be in control of. There is a difference in letting them control us and us controlling them. Don’t allow your responsibilities to control you. Don’t let them lock you into a life of distaste. Yes, you are responsible and because you are responsible shouldn’t you take control of how greatly they control you?

I believe that we are responsible to quit unconducive conditions of our life. Because the more we dislike life or what we do the greater it affects other aspects of our life. The greater this affect has on how we show-up and how we behave has impact on the rest of the world. The greater the numbers of unhappy souls walking around today the greater the unhappiness that exists. On the contrary, the more people that love life the greater amount of love there will be in life.

Don’t let your responsibilities control your action towards making healthy positive change in life, take control, it will make a world of difference.

• Guilt. There is a feeling of guilt that exists when we we do things for ourselves. I am not too sure why this exists but it does. Perhaps it is because when we feel good yet still see other people suffering or in pain we feel selfish or wrong in our state of being. We need not feel guilty about feeling great nor should we feel guilty about trying to do things in attempt to raise our state of being.

The greater we feel that better we will be able to help others, think about that. If you are loving life, loving your job then how much more energy can you put into more conducive acts of kindness. Your ego will make you feel guilty, your boss, friends and peers will make you feel guilty, life will make you feel guilty but that is just because deep within them they admire your courage to do something more for you and what to do the same in their own lives.

If your actions do not affect anyone else than do not feel guilt. When someone else attempts to make you feel guilty is it down out of their own selfish reasons, and should they feel guilt for this? We don’t need to place guilt on one another for pursuing greater happiness because ultimately it will benefit us all.

• Uncomfortable. Change is never easy, it’s uncomfortable. However, when you are making change for the right reasons it’s exciting. Here’s the thing to consider. When someone else forces change on us we don’t like it because we have to adjust and adapt. Like when you are in the middle of a great movie and right at the climax someone rings the door bell, it takes us out of our comfort zone and this can change that state of how we feel. Not cool! But if we our self are to pause the movie to get an ice-cream if feels ok, this disruption is acceptable.

In change we find strength. It is actually a good thing to bring about change from time to time. For example, you could do a fast to improve your resilience in future times of change. In change we find uncertainty and that is also something we seek. What is more magical is when you bring the change on yourself. Quitting a job, when bought on by oneself is change like no other. It will excite you, push you closer towards your full potential and bring you more aligned with a true path in life than anything else.

Embrace being uncomfortable. The more comfortable we are the more we should encourage change.

Telling someone to quit their job is not easy advice to give however I would like to suggest that if you are truly not loving your job then do quit, please! Life is about how you feel and not one of us wants to feel shit or insignificant. Life is to be enjoyed and ultimately life is to be happy. Happiness cannot be found in dissatisfaction.

To be satisfied we must meet our expectations. What are your expectations of life? Mine are freedom, fulfilment and ultimately happiness. I am sure most of us have this expectation to be happy in life. Satisfaction is to “make” satisfied or to make our expectations be meet. If your job is not conducive to this and is not making greater satisfaction in your life, hence the negative prefix of “dis” to satisfaction, then perhaps this is reason enough to make change. Life is too short for wasting time in a dissatisfloseying state of being.

At this point I hope there is enough inspiration and thought to assist you in making the ultimate decision of life. To quit or not to quit. At the end of the day what have you got to lose. You might think there is a great deal to lose but in truth there is not. Unless it means loss of life what else is there? Actually in changes like this I would argue that there is more to gain. More on this topic to follow.

If you are considering to quit your job or making some change in your life I coach people on this. If you would like to explore this opportunity, please click this link here to schedule a time for a Discovery Call. I would love to be able to provide some further insight and assist.