Why Coming Back After Leaving It All Will Only Hurt More
Up until a couple months ago I lived with a roommate and his girlfriend. They both took 5 months and a half off their work to go on a trip around the world. They travel a lot and they have already been to quite a few places that seem amazing. What strikes me though, is how their situation is not really in sync with the time they chose to “leave it all”.
The 9 to 5
I have always known I was not tailored for a lifetime spent in an office. I don’t think a lot of people are, but I know a lot of people settle. They forget how they pictured their life when they were teenagers. They close their eyes on the memory of swearing to themselves that they would not have a normal 9-to-5 type of life.
The mistake is not to go for the 9 to 5 in the first place. There is nothing wrong with trying. Getting a 9 to 5 is really easy compared to what it takes to avoid a 9 to 5. You can try for some time, see that this thing is not for you, and quit. The problem is that most people stop at getting the 9 to 5. They stay in their office and one day they wake up, they’re 50, and it’s late already.
Leaving it all
Once you are 30, you quit. No matter how much money you made in the game, what your compensation package will be, or much you owe. No matter your position in the company, your level of responsibility, or the other people at work. You resign. Quick tip: if you have been in the company for a long time, remember to give notice to your employer early enough. It’d be a bummer to figure out you have to say in the company for 6 more months while you’re supposed to take off in 2 weeks.
The plan I just described would be somewhat ideal. It is a good compromise (learn to love the word compromise) between slaving your life away and living it up.
However, what my roommate is doing is a whole another story.
Coming back
Let’s see. You quit your job for a 6-month world trip and come back later to have your day-to-day office life. My guess is that you’re going to feel really bad about yourself when you’re back.
You were literally sipping on a cocktail on a Mexican beach 1 week ago and now you are sitting here in your office. Or maybe you were volunteering in a Vietnamese village a couple days ago. And now you are sitting here, in your office.
This is the reason why waiting for a bit longer and then leaving it all is a much better option. Leave to travel or at least to try something new. But don’t do this after spending only a year with the company, with the intention to come back afterwards. Your office life will be a nightmare when you come back.
Work your ass off
My roommate makes a lot of money. He also works a ton. He leaves everyday at 8am and comes back at 10pm. He is 26, fresh out of university, full of energy, and he is able to save a lot. That’s one more reason to wait to leave. I am an advocate of having a medium to big break once a year (1 to 3 months), and then get back to the office work/life. I guess when you clock in 70-hour workweeks, you probably feel like taking twice as much time off.
Love your work
It is a lot easier to work your ass off when you love what you do. That’s not my roommate’s situation. He keeps complaining about his work. Yet, when I asked him if he was thinking of staying at this company, he said he intended to become a partner (he works at a big consulting firm) and stay there until he retires.
Everything is a matter of perspective. It might be an option for some people to go on a 6-month world trip and come back. Come back to the same company, the same people, the same tiny apartment, the same city… But to me, leaving for good is the only way out.
There is no future in the illusion of breaking free only to go back to the same cubicle 6 months later. It will only hurt more.
