How To Know When It's Time To Quit Your Job
Did you know that those of us who work a full time job spend the majority of our waking hours at work? No wonder whether or not we are happy at work dramatically affects the quality of our life, our sense of fulfillment and overall happiness. While I don’t agree that one’s entire happiness and identity should ever be tied to what we do, I also know it is completely unrealistic to think that where we spend the majority of our time has no impact on our sense of contentment. The decision to leave one’s job is extremely important and should not be taken lightly, so in this blog we will review twelve valid reasons you should quit your job. Notice I say valid reasons because there are a lot of invalid reasons why one could quit. I fundamentally don’t believe one should quit a job just because you encounter challenges, because depending on the challenge it could be an opportunity to stretch you outside of your comfort zone so that you can learn, grow and develop not only the skills but also the character of an outstanding leader. These challenges should ultimately stretch and mold you into a woman of resilience and power but they should absolutely not crush you. Sometimes we need to sit in the process of being stretched so that we can learn to deal with challenging situations or we may end up quitting and finding ourselves back in the same struggle in a new role or a new company, needing to learn the same lesson that we ran away from before. Here are the 12 reasons. You can also watch the Youtube video related to this blog post here.
12 Legitimate Reasons To Quit Your Job
1. You Have Found A Better Opportunity
The first reason to quit your job is if you have received an offer that you just cannot turn down. Maybe the new company’s mission is aligned to your values, you are passionate about the work, will have the opportunity to learn grow, and be promoted or you prefer the culture of the company and the leadership style of its managers. Of course, if you are receiving more compensation that is a valid reason as well. Just ensure you have done the homework on the organization and spoken to prior or current employees so that you are not leaving one tough situation for one that is potentially just as bad or worse.
2. You Are No Longer Learning Or Growing
If you are no longer learning or growing in your job because you have been doing it for just too long or there is no opportunity for training or projects where you can learn or try new things, you will waste your talent, potential and ultimately your motivation. If you find yourself in this situation my sister friend, it is time to start job searching.
3. When Your Manager Holds You Back
Sometimes you and your manager just won’t see eye to eye and your personalities don’t click, and that’s ok. I have written this blog post to provide you with strategies to navigate your way around this challenging situation. However if your manager proactively intentionally holds you back from progressing in your career and tries to sabotage your growth, there is absolutely no reason to keep yourself subject to a situation like this without an exit strategy. (Since managers are at the top of the list why many people want to resign from their job, the following resource will be very beneficial to you if you are in this situation, so Download an actionable checklist 10 Ways To Get Your Boss To Support Your Career Even If Your Personalities Do Not Click
4. There Is No Pathway For Advancement
If you look around at the next step and you don’t see any potential opportunities for advancement either because the jobs are limited and no one in potential roles are moving on, or the company doesn’t have a practice of promoting from within. These are signs that you need to start thinking about your continuing career development elsewhere.
5. When You Dread Going To Work Everyday (Toxic Work Environment)
If your slight blues for the weekend ending turns into a high level of stress and anxiety when you think about returning to the office it maybe a sign that your tolerance for the work environment that you are in has waned. We all have periods of time when we feel stressed and feel some level of anxiousness about going to work but if this is a constant state for you over months and years then its time to rethink why you are doing this work. Watch this Youtube video How To Survive And Thrive In A Toxic Work Environment
6. When You Don’t Care And Your Motivation Is Gone
If the passion you once had for your role is no longer there, you don’t care about the results of your work, and your motivation is gone these are signs that you have over stayed your welcome. We all do our best work when we are inspired as this gives us the energy to do hard things. Many people in this situation become cynical, sarcastic and toxic to be around. It is wise to proactively start looking for a role not just for your own sense of fulfillment but many times companies will find a way to remove these type of people from their environment. Move on before you are removed.
7. When The Work Schedule Negatively Impacts Your Personal Life Or Relationships
If the long hours is negatively impacting the relationship with the people closest to you such as your spouse, children or the people you deem as significantly important in your life, you have a fundamental question to ask yourself if the job is more important than those relationships. There is a period of time when loved ones will buy into the lifestyle from our careers but over months and years the schedule may take a toll on the relationship and the once supportive partner becomes resentful or the relationship with the teenager at home may need to take priority. Do an honest assessment of what’s most important to you, and take action to align to that priority.
8. When You Don’t Believe In The Mission Of The Company
If you no longer believe in the mission of the company, what it’s doing, and the impact it is making on the world at large then it will be hard to remain motivated, be innovative and give your best in this environment.
9. When The Stress Is Affecting Your Health
If the stress from your job is causing health issues then do I really need to say more? The work environment can be extremely toxic and people learn to stay in stressful situations where they experience chronic migraines, back aches, digestive problems until it leads to something as serious as heart disease, high blood pressure or even cancer. No job is worth your life. Time to update the resume and start searching.
10. When You Question The Integrity Of The Company’s Leaders
We have all read about cases like Enron where leaders of companies had no integrity and were engaging in consistent illegal activities. If you are working in an environment where you question the integrity of the leaders, this is a legitimate reason to walk out the door.
11. Your Skills And Interests Are Just Not A Good Fit
If your skills and interest do not match the role that you are doing then you will not reach your full potential in your current role. It will not only be hard to innovate and make significant contributions but you will be unhappy and you will not advance in. When you are doing a role that you are passionate about and is aligned to your skillset, magic happens. Find a role where you can bring your magic to life!
12. If You Start Looking For Blogs About Quitting Your Job
Finally if you start searching for blogs like this, looking for advice about when to quit your job, it is probably time! I had to throw this one in for fun and good measure 😊
THE END … kind of
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If you found this post helpful, I want you to do a couple of things:
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Download an actionable checklist 10 Ways To Get Your Boss To Support Your Career Even If Your Personalities Do Not Click and check out these blogs How To Advance Your Career Regardless of Who Your Boss Is and Tips To Get You Promoted This Year.
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