THE TRUTH ABOUT STAYING IN A JOB YOU HATE FOR TOO LONG

I’m writing this from my personal experience of staying in a job for far longer then I should have. Ruining my self-confidence, self-esteem, affecting loved ones, to the point where I was burnt out and quit, with no plans other than to sit at home and reassess my entire existence. I hope that this inspires you to take action and get your shit together sooner rather than later and not waste more time doing shit you hate.

If your working in an industry you don’t like, or a job you hate — Pay attention.

The things everyone says about staying in a job and industry you are trained in are real. You have job security, it’s safe, you have consistent income, you make good money, you have a family, you’re going to get married soon, you’re going to have kids soon, you have bills to pay, a mortgage, a car loan. The list goes on. Of course, these excuses are all very real. Are you sacrificing your happiness for them though? Is it really worth it?

I have been ‘unemployed’ for a couple of weeks now. I have a little bit of money saved to cover a few months of bills, rent etc. I haven’t been happier, for as long as I can remember. We’ll get back to this, for now, I want to tell you how I got here.

I left school when I was 15, I couldn’t learn in the school environment. Being dyslexic in a big classroom I could easily hide down the back, pretend I knew what was going on, I copied answers from friends. I was a shit student, and i didn’t care. All I wanted to do was paint flames on cars and hot rods. I got an apprenticeship as a Panel Beater to help get me there. A few years in, in my late teens, I hated it. I was still an apprentice though. Everyone around me told me to keep going, get qualified. It will look better on your CV. Sounds good, right?

This pattern of CV building was what I did for 17 years, honing my skills, perfecting my workmanship, becoming a craftsman. There was nothing I couldn’t do, and I was paid very well for it. It’s hard not to become good at something when you spend 40+ hour a week for 17 years, doing the same thing. It was over 35,000 hours of doing something I could bearly tolerate. I spent a few years climbing the ladder into management and leadership positions along the way, I knew in my soul I had lent the ladder against the wrong wall. But, I was so deep into this, I had to make it work.

That’s what I thought anyway, and its all bullshit.

The voice inside my head was anyways negative. I hated myself. I was never happy. Nothing I did was satisfying. I was lost. Most of this I attribute to not listening to myself and what I knew was right. I wasn’t confident in myself. I’d spent 17 years going to bed lying to myself, saying tomorrow will be a good day. This didn’t change until I started listening to myself and doing what I knew was right for me. I needed to change, the people around me telling me what was best for me were not inside my head. They didn’t know my values, they knew theirs! They spoke to me through their filter of the world and I listened.

I’ve since quit my job. I work for myself in a completely different industry, doing something I love and my life is amazing.

The main point I want to convey is to take action NOW. You need to start. No one is going to help you. You might start, and stop, and start again. I began to change in 2014 and it took me 5 years to take action, leave my job and change my life. It’s going to be hard. If it was easy you would not be in the hole you’ve dug for yourself. I’m not Going to tell you to do XYZ, then everything will be perfect. I am going to tell you to start though. Throw some headphones in and listen to podcasts, Youtube, listen to audiobooks, read articles on Medium, Quora, and LinkedIn. Take a few small steps today, to start moving in the direction YOU want. And most importantly, don’t listen to the people around you. Don’t tell anyone if its easier. Just quietly build your knowledge base for a new career path, slowly work on your resume. Save some money so if you do spit it like I did and quit you can last a few months without unnecessary stress.

Do a few small things today, and every day to start the building of your perfect life. No one is going to do this for you. It’s up to you.

If you liked this, give me a dozen claps for good luck ;)

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