Isn’t it amazing how many people hate their day job. I mean, it’s not like we are all working in sweat shops, yet we can not stand doing the work we do everyday. Yet, we are too afraid of the consequences if we quit to actually do anything different.
Most people will say, I can get another job if I want one, but isn’t that part of the problem?
You don’t want a job.
You want to be fulfilled and maybe even a little bit afraid of the work you do. By afraid I mean it’s challenging in a way that makes you have to expand yourself to meet it, not shrink yourself to fit it.
We all want this. We want to be the hero of our stories not the supporting character in the background of some one else’s movie.
How long are you willing to die for something you dislike? Wouldn’t it be nice to leave that day job behind and do something you are truly passionate about? Something that makes you and everyone that comes in contact with you light up?
It’s possible.
Even if you have kids.
Even if you are in debt.
Even if you don’t believe in yourself.
Even if you are not sure what you would rather do, but you know that what you are doing is definitely not it.
Look I did it. I am writing this from the comfort of my own home, no worries of bills being unpaid, kids being unfed or clothed, and debt collectors happily calling other peoples numbers for a change.
I know all the reason’s why you can’t be free of your job right now. Trust me, I had all the same reasons.
But I want to give you 3 steps you can be free from it tomorrow and everything will be just fine.
Number 1
You have figured out a way to survive this long doing what you hate.
The truth is, you are making it right now. Maybe not the way you want to be, but I am assuming that you have food on the table, clothes on your back and maybe a vehicle to drive and a place to live. You may be saying, “yep all thanks to this crappy job.”
To that I would say false. You have all that you have right now, in this moment because of you. You are the source of all that is currently in your world. Don’t believe me? Fine here’s an experiment.
Imagine that you didn’t go to work tomorrow, would the things that you have still exist? Yes, is the correct answer. Imagine you didn’t go to work for a year, would the things that you have still exist? Yes again. Maybe they would look different but if you have made it this far in life to be reading a blog about quitting your job then it’s safe to say you have always had what you needed to survive.
What most people don’t understand is that we are the source of our income and we are the reason anything that we have in our life, good and bad, exists. It has nothing to do with this job or that job.
The fact that you have all that you have now and you wish you were doing something else should be a testament to just how simple life is and how difficult we make it.
The only reason so many people do work they hate is because it’s what everyone else does.
Well, if everyone else jumped off a bridge would you jump off too?
I mean come on, if you have all the trappings of a good life yet you feel that your life is not good, maybe you are just trapped in dogmatic thinking. Maybe… No not maybe. You could leave your job tomorrow and you would find a way to make it work, because look, you are right now.
Do not get stuck in thinking like everyone else. If you want to quit your job, you can. I can guarantee that while it may feel difficult and scary for a while, what you become in the process and the strength you find in yourself will be more fulfilling than a 100 big screen tv’s and 8 sports cars ( I did the math, trust me).
The real question is what do you do after you quit the day job you hate?
Number 2
What do you do after you quit?
You will cry, you will scream, you will swear off reading blogs for ever, then you will try and email me telling me how much you hate me. After you get all that out of your system and you have a popsicle or some other nice treat, you will realize what I said in part 1 is true.
You are the source and from you comes all that you will ever need.
So, what do you need?
Your first thought, as mine was, will be money. Then you will think, how do I make money, and your brain will say, “a job.” Then you will get pissed off again because you just had one of those and now you don’t. But, if you wait a little longer you will hear the voice that say’s, “a job is not the only way to make money, and money is not the source of fulfillment for me. Remember we had a job and we were miserable?”
As you nod your head that you remember, your next question will be, “well what fulfills me?”
Now we are on to something. Because, money is nice and all, but it is only a product of us creating something of worth. Think about what will happen when you are creating from a place of your truest passion, your greatest worth. How much more will that be worth than your hourly wage or salary at your last job. Not just monetarily but existentially.
You are almost there. This is part of creating a plan for your new life.
Number 3
Make a list and give it purpose
Now it’s time to do some real work, get out a sheet of paper and make a list of the things that bring you joy. If you can only think of things you hate, that’s fine write all those down first. Then once you have all the hate out, see what the opposite of those things are.
Do you hate being around people, maybe you could be a monk.
Do you hate having fun, maybe you could be an adult in a 90’s teen movie.
What ever you do, be honest. If you don’t know what you love, then write that down. Do not deny what wants to come through you.
Once you have a list of what you love. Give it purpose and with purpose, dedicate time each day to doing something on that list.
This is no easy task, what is actually easier is going back to a job you hate and living your life in misery because you weren’t tough enough to live with the fear of doing what you love.
Hey if you can live with that fine, for me I couldn’t live with it for another second, and I made the choice to live with fear rather than live with self hate and doubt.
At least with fear, there are more times than not that I feel strong and courageous. I feel like the hero of my story. With doubt the only thing I ever felt was jealousy, that some one else got to play the hero while I was stuck playing the stupid tree.
No offense, trees.
So there you have it.
Three steps to quit your job tomorrow and be better off. You may not feel better off right away, but you will be eventually and you will thank me.
Because life is an adventure. You know every part of the adventure you have been living, maybe it’s time to take a step out on faith and do something new.
Be afraid if you want to, but take the leap any way. The world needs to see you become who you are. Hell, I need to see it.
Free Your Life 