I Quit My Job Now What?!?

“IRRESPONSIBLE,” “SPOILED,” “FAILURE,” “INFLUENCER WANNABE,” “ENTITLED”… those are just some of the pre-conceived notions I thought people would have of me when I finally decided to quit my job.

Quick backstory…

I started my career in payroll after graduating from college and have been working in the same field for the past four and half years—that is, until recently.

While I know some of you might say (or maybe it’s just my anxiety talking), “Oh poor her, it was only four years, try working in a job you hate for twenty plus years“, or “Everyone has to work, suck it up. It’s a job kid. We all have them and need them to live.”

While it’s absolutely true that I would say nine out of ten people must work in order to provide for themselves or a family (me being one of them), let’s pause here and ask ourselves…

What kind of a life is it to be miserable every day? Is life’s purpose truly to spend 3/4 of your week doing something just for a paycheck? What is a life without passion and purpose? Why should one have to settle into a space where every day leads to feeling mentally anxious, undervalued, and inadequate?

When looking at people who actually have YOUR “dream job”, do you ever think to yourself, “Why can’t that be me”? I know I’m guilty. I would go on social media, see people doing what I really wanted to do and instead of taking action, I expected it to fall into my lap and even worse, I played the victim card.

Cliff Notes: I was doing nothing (except complaining) to make my dreams come true.

Now really ask yourself…

• Why NOT you?
• Why don’t you deserve to work in your dream career or live your dream life?

I decided to take back the “why not me” and to reach for the stars.

Building a dream life has no timeline. It’s never TOO EARLY, TOO LATE or TOO IRRESPONSIBLE to start building that life. What IS irresponsible? Expecting happiness to just be handed to you. Like anything, it’s easy to “talk the talk” but I like to put my money where my mouth is, and relate this to a real life experience so you know I’M REAL about this.

As a little girl, I always worked hard, but struggled in school. My struggling grades were seen by my teachers as “failing” and “laziness,” when in fact this was not the case.

I was diagnosed in 7th grade with ADD/ADHD and a nonverbal learning disability. While I was lucky enough to receive accommodations for such disabilities, I still struggled. I didn’t fully understand how much this crushed my self-esteem in all things business, until I actually entered the REAL WORLD.

While I’m secure in myself, I was very insecure in the business world, because of my years of suffering learning

indifferences. I remember my mom always telling me that I will hit my stride as an adult, and that being “book smart” isn’t everything. This made me excited for my future. I always envisioned, or now as I see it “manifested” the life I wanted to live once I could put behind my intellectual challenges. I had a vision that my learning disabilities wouldn’t follow me into adulthood, and everything would just click.

Fast forward to early adulthood

I took a job right out of college as most do, to get my foot in the door, and to be able to live out phase one of my dream, in the BIG APPLE. Fresh out of college, you take what you can get. I think we can all agree that is typical. I am not saying you shouldn’t work your way up and gain experience even if it’s not directly related to what you want to do. But in this case however, THIS GIRL took a job in the payroll industry, even though she basically failed math throughout her whole life. (It’s actually mind-boggling I survived so long in that career.)

Even though I took the job to simply to gain work experience (which I think is perfectly okay), what wasn’t okay was continuing along that career path for the next four and a half years, when EVERY SIGN told me that this was not what I was meant to do.

Settling countless times in a career that did not belong to me damaged my whole mentality of demanding the best out of life—settle in one area, and you begin to notice you start settling in them all.

The disappointment and failure I experienced brought me to dark places—a complete and utter sense of loss in my life. I truly felt like I was once again a failure and for lack of better words…inadequate.

Through my journey of self-care, I started to realize that the only way to change the outcome, is to change the situation.

The universe had other plans for me—plans that provide a life of PASSION and PURPOSE. Work should give you meaning, and provide a sense of doing what you’re placed on this earth to do. While we all know work is essential in life to get by financially, mental well-being is also essential to living a happy and healthy life.

The last month at my job, I was SINKING, like literally holding my head above water trying to catch a breath. I was ridden with anxiety, breaking out in “adult acne,” chewing my nails, and a completely disturbed inner peace. I had the “Sunday Scaries” EVERY DAY.

I didn’t recognize the shell of a person I became at work. I lost my voice and didn’t have the confidence to speak up, or speak with authority.

A literal ticking timebomb.

Let’s get one thing straight. The only failure was failing myself by settling into a job for the past few years. I’m now choosing to turn this negative into a positive by truly living out my dream and trying to inspire others to do the same. Positivity is the key to happiness.

Passion and Purpose

I certainly don’t consider myself a life coach. My goal is simply to inspire anyone who cares to listen, to look deeper into their life and start moving towards a happier future.

Bottom line

While I am not NAIVE enough to say just quit your job on a whim, I do encourage you to start taking steps in order to be able to do so.

• Maybe on a Saturday for two hours instead of online shopping, or browsing the Gram (or after you like my pictures at least;) you could use that time to job search?

• Maybe, first you need to identity the big question “What do you want to do with your life?” Use the internet for job listings even if just to get careers ideas

• Ask your friends exactly what they do and if they like their current job (and why!)

• Make a list of your hobbies and see how you could incorporate that into your work life.

Happiness…we all want it, but you have to be willing to invest in yourself each and every day in order to achieve. Positive thoughts lead to happiness, and there’s no time like the present to start.

SO, I quit my job, and I’m choosing to put myself out there in an effort to begin living my dream career. By sharing my experiences and how they have helped me on the road to happiness I am achieving a passion and purpose within my work which is what I always aspired to do.

I choose to replace any negative pre-conceived notations people may have about my decision with the following words; “BRAVE,” “PROUD,” “PASSIONATE,” “ POSITIVE,” “HAPPY”.

I’m still SCARED SHITLESS, but HIGH RISK equals HIGH REWARD.

Key take-aways

• NO REGRETS
• If something isn’t meant to be, the universe will show you
• Listen to your gut and don’t ignore the signs
• You can’t fail at something that was never yours to begin with
• Walking away from something that is not right for you takes strength—it is not failure
• The only time an experience is “failed” is if you miss the lessons it teaches you
• If you settle in one area of your life you will most likely begin to settle in them all
• You’re never too young or too old to “start over.”
• Only you know what is BEST for you. Once you find it, GO AFTER IT
• Failure=Settling
• EVERYONE deserves to be HAPPY

**Disclaimer** For the record, if a career in the payroll industry is meant for you, it’s a wonderful career!

Vibes,
XO