Why I Quit My Job
18 May 2009 in CareerI left an amazing job with great friends, incredible security, challenging opportunities, a respectable salary, a recent promotion, a significant bonus, an excellent pension just years away, and solid medical and other benefits.
Why would I make such a foolish decision, leaving a dream job for nothing in particular? Every time someone asks me, I have a new answer. I’m in a rut. I want to be self-employed. I lost my mojo. I want to cross some items off my “bucket list” while I’m still young enough to enjoy them. Work takes all my energy. The list goes on and on, and they all boil down to two things. First, I want to pursue some of my dreams. Second, I lost job satisfaction over the years. Together, the timing was enough to convince me to go for it.
I’ve had people tell me that going for it isn’t the smartest decision. The economy is in the toilet. There is no guarantee I could get my old job back if I tried. I’m not a trust-fund baby. I’m not independently wealthy. I don’t have wealthy friends or relatives. I don’t even have a place to live. In fact, my mom has a history of kicking me out of her house, so I have no safe haven! This has to be the worst decision of my life.
One thought has pushed me to ignore the few naysayers, at least temporarily. Life is so short and can be changed so abruptly by forces outside our control. I feel compelled to take every opportunity to live it to the fullest.
My inner conflict in making this life-changing decision reminds me of the shoulder angel and shoulder devil seen in comic strips and sitcoms. On my right shoulder, a stern-faced angel is telling me to stay the course, to continue playing by the rules, and to stop having foolish romanticized thoughts. To my left, a funloving devil with a pitchfork is telling me I need to try things his way for once, that I’m only getting older and won’t have this opportunity again, and that I can always change my mind if things don’t work out.
The little devil won this latest round.
Yeah – glad to see your blog is finally up! I’m anxious to hear more details about your travel plans.
I can’t wait to see what you do with this…nice post
You will not regret your decision. I did the same thing you did and have no regrets about my RTW trip.
I just got your mail and I have to say that I’m really proud of your decision. This post just tells the truth and I really wish you the best in this travel..Life’s short, and you’ll never have regrets about that.
Let me know if you need some contacts in some place, I’d love to help you
Romain
You only live once.
Go Tigger go! I’m thankful for your time & service to our country.
Tigger I had no Idea! Best of luck. You can always figure out a way to get free pizza! Ha ha
Frasier and Heed, thanks for your support! Heed, I know I can always count on you for a large pepperoni pizza, even if you don’t know about it until the next week. Frasier, thank you! I would have made it your ceremony if I didn’t have my own event going on.
Hey Cuz! I just found this blog of yours. Your a great person and I’m real happy for you. I hope your huge adventure is going good! I think it is wise to listen to yourself first, thats the only person you really have to live with all your life. But I’m not the sharpest tool… I’m excited to see what cool things you do with your time. Good luck!
Thanks Matt! I don’t know how long I’ll be doing this before moving onto something else, but it sure has been fun and relaxing so far.
Though with different circumstances, I can so relate to the feelings or the reasons: Pursuing a dream and loss of job satisfaction. I admire your courage to make this decision. You won’t regret it– you might ask, why did I wait so long! What an extraordinary opportunity!
I only wish the best for you in your future.
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Brook,
Just found your website. This is an awesome idea to journal you travels. I’m glad you didn’t listen to the naysayers. This will be the greatest experience of you life. If you chose to return to that old job it will still be waiting and you will be a wiser man for your travels. Hope all is well stay safe. Remember you still have family in the 20th we listed you as family traveling abroad when the AF conducted an accountability recall following the earthquake in the south Pacific. Take care and God bless!
Thank you Aggie! It’s great to know I wasn’t forgotten two weeks after leaving!
Hi Brook,
I just finish reading your blog this time… your experience like a movie called : into the wild…you should watch it.. good start to enrich your traveling’ world… & like a novel entitled: honeymoon with my brother..
Take care & continues travelin.
Marlina
Marlina, I’ve seen that movie and skimmed the book. I really enjoyed the movie, and especially like Eddie Vedder’s music in it.
I think that kid was much more adventurous (and naive) than me. I’m actually a bit paranoid about my safety, avoiding activities and places where I think I could get killed or injured.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Hi,
Well…just want to tell you there are other people who living in another side of the world doing quite similar things as yours. I just quit my job last year and now I’m aggressively travelling around. Vietnam is my next destination and that’s how I found you. While resting after 10 years working, I’m now trying to have things of my own too. I wish you luck…;)
I believe you will have many wonderful stories to tell someday! I am also about to begin an adventure in South Korea. My fiance has a web design agency and is able to travel and work from any location. I just finished an MBA in marketing and have been in sales and marketing for over 10 years. I know that people raise an eyebrow when they hear that I have left my position to pursue something that most people do when they are right out of college, but I believe that now is the perfect time to explore new territory. I will be teaching English in Seoul. I find that I am happiest when traveling and think that the opportunity to work and live abroad will be extremely rewarding. I will work on a new career and see things that I would never be exposed to in the US.
I applaud you for being adventurous and hope to see posts of your adventures! I will blog on my shiny-prettythings.com website as well.
Michelle, thanks for visiting!
Yes, you are so right. There is no perfect age or time of life to travel. The best time is NOW!
I’ll tell you what—For the better perspective, I would rather travel in my 30s after having some real life experience than in my idealistic college years. Things seem more meaningful, and I have more and deeper interests in certain things, and a better understanding of everything. Good luck in Seoul and I look forward to following you on your blog!