You can 9,900 hits if you Google 10 top reasons to quit your job. Most of them are from a practical HR perspective. Most of them are warnings about being practical, planning, and so on. This list has a far from practical, or reasonable approach. It is advice from someone who quit her job at 55, cut her salary in half, 10 years before her pension came into fruition, and left for Mexico.
Quit Your Job Reason 1: To open doors
Once you step off the curb into the parking lot where have you have been working for what seems like forever, what lies ahead of you are new people, new connections, and new job opportunities. The first of the list for 10 top reasons to quit splits the world wide open for you.
Quit Your Job Reason 2: To become interesting
People do not have the guts or gumption to do the same thing classify you as crazy for quitting, but you will know that this crazy move will take you far. If you leave yourself open, apply for a job every day, and talk to anyone who seems remotely interesting, you will find intriguing people. Intriguing people will also find you. After teaching in Mexico for one month, I got a call from an employer who wanted to hire me as a Subject Matter Expert for an online Mythology course. I accepted, learned how to be a Subject Matter Expert, loved it and added it to my resume. A year later, I am an SME at an e-learning company in Malaysia.
Quit Your Job Reason 3: To remember that you are a risk taker
Scott Peck, in his book The Road Less Traveled, suggests that you look back to find the time in your life when you stopped taking risks — the time when you stopped being brave or a bit reckless because something in your life stopped you dead in your tracks. Simply asking that question can pull you out of the doldrums of a job that is sinking you. When did you stop taking the challenge to jump headfirst into your life?
Quit Your Job Reason 4: To see yourself in a new light
When you lose your career label you can adopt a new one, or start the same one in a different place. You have the opportunity to recreate yourself. You can change your name, your attitude, your appearance and the people with whom you associate. You can lose the things that you do not like about yourself only to build up the things that you do like.
Quit Your Job Reason 5: To learn that you are replaceable
A seasoned teacher told me that there is always someone who can do the same job that you do. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew it was true — I was replaceable. Consider how many people apply for jobs like yours every day. No one is so good at something that they cannot be replaced. Look at professional tennis players. Although no one has replaced Serena Williams yet, Novak Djokovic has surpassed both Nadal and Federer. Soon they will be idols of the past. Knowing that you are replaceable gives you permission to not have to feel guilty about leaving your job. It makes you humble.
Quit Your Job Reason 6: To find fulfillment
Working in the same job year after year can get tedious no matter how dynamic it is. When you stop finding fulfillment in what you do, you become tedious. Who is to say that a perspective employer might be looking for someone who feels alive rather than bored when he or she is at work?
Quit Your Job Reason 7: To grow
Some adults forget that they need to keep growing. Instead of looking toward those who nurtured us as children, we need to nurture ourselves. If you can nurture yourself by feeding your own personal growth, then the only place to go is up. Learning to feed one’s growth is a survival skill that too many of us drop when we grow up.
Quit Your Job Reason 8: To refresh relationships
Quitting your job allows you to forge new friendships. Forging new relationships gives you the opportunity to view the world from new perspectives. Thus forcing you to view the world through a different less limited lens.
Quit Your Job Reason 9: To realize that where you are is not as important as who you are
One of the hardest things that I ever did was move away from my childhood home at the age of 15. As heart-wrenching as it was, it was a good experience. It taught me that moving out of one situation is not a bad thing. It inspires growth, reflection, a new perspective, and another chance to do things right.
Quit Your Job Reason 10: To let go
I have worked long enough to know that learning to let go of things is an essential skill. If you hold onto something and resist letting it go, you become stunted. You can learn to let go of the small things by staying where you are, but every once in a while it is important to let go of yourself to see where you land. Try it, you might surprise yourself.
