good for you! If not, don’t feel bad you are not alone. Studies show that 80% of Americans hate their job. The question of the day is, why are you still working there? I bet the reason falls into a few categories.
- You don’t feel you have the experience to find a better job.
- You don’t think you can get paid to do what you love.
- You feel trapped due to financial obligations.
- You are “paying your dues.”
- You are scared.
- All the above.
If I would have asked myself this question when I was in my early twenties the answer would have been #3. When I was younger
I didn’t live within my means, which lead to me
taking on a lot of unnecessary debt. As I got older and started paying off all that debt I would take any job that would hire me because in my mind I had the burden that I needed to take care of, and any job was better than no job at all.
It took a while, but I finally got to a place where I could breathe financially. I started to doing what every responsible adult should do, I put money away for a rainy day. Having that cushion of cash really gave me power. For once I felt empowered, and in control of my destiny. This got me thinking about my life, and how I was conditioned to settling for things…
One thing in particular was my job.
I thought I had finally made it, I had a
“career job!” I was making good money and saving for a house. I was doing all the things that I thought I had to do, but I wasn’t happy. This job was sucking my soul away. I worked
LONG hours and had to deal with abusive clients and unappreciative co-workers. I was making a lot of money, but what good is any of this money if I didn’t get a chance to use it.
One day I watched a documentary called
I’m Fine Thanks. It’s about people who’ve given up their dreams and settled into a complacent lifestyle because they thought that’s what they were supposed to do. It got me thinking about my situation. Why was I “settling” for a job that I hated. I discussed this with my wife, and she was fully supportive, so I took a leap of fait and I quit my job.
We had enough saved up to allow me to be off from work for three months. During this time it was my goal to reconnect with myself and find out want I wanted to do with my life.
My first week off was like coming off of an extreme addiction, but after the first month I felt like I was whole again. During this time off I also realized that I was able to live comfortably off of a very modest budget. This helped because when I started looking for work again it wasn’t about the money, it was about the value, and I ended up finding a great job doing what I love.
The lesson for this story is that if you live within your means and don’t carry unnecessary debt it makes it easier to live the life that you want to live, rather than just settling. Also it’s important to take time to figure out what you really want in life. Once you know what success is, it will be possible to make a plan to achieve it.
To close I leave you with a quote:
”There is only one success, to be able to spend your life in your own way.”
-Christopher Morley
What are your thoughts? Feel free to keep the convo going in the comments.
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