It’s been a long week and you’ve been working your butt off.
Today, your manager calls you over for an impromptu meeting. You ask yourself what’s wrong?… am I in trouble? Then your manger scolds you for missing a deadline and you feel your heart sink. And then…
Boom!
You jump out of bed sweating. You look at the clock and it’s 4:30am. You woke up a little too early. Or wait. Did you wake up a little too late?
Yeah, actually, I’m pretty sure you woke up too late (from the nightmare you call your work life). When you start dreaming about work terrors, you know it’s time to re-evaluate your situation.
Is this job/career really for me?
The answer will most likely be no. In my opinion, no one should ever allow work to stress them out to the point where you have dreams about it. I mean unless you’re a doctor and out here saving lives, chances are the work truly CAN wait till tomorrow. You need your peace of mind – so take it back.
I literally went through a phase where I felt like I was waking up into a never ending loop. Sleep. Work. Sleep Work. Sleep. Work. Life was slipping by me and I knew it.
There was no way I was born to pay bills and die.
It was an internal battle on whether I should just quit or try to stick it out.
Big Red on my shoulder: It’s not so easy to just get up and say I quit. There’s too much uncertainty in that. And for most, taking on the risk of being jobless is never ideal. Or even better, landing in an even worse role would be torture. Haha torture. Me complaining about torture… isn’t that funny?
Angel on my shoulder: But that’s just it. You never know what is out there unless you look. This job you’re currently in is not the “end all, be all”. If its uncomfortably stressful, it likely isn’t going to be the best situation you’ll ever have and it certainly isn’t the only well paid role out there. (And for all you know, your current job is paying you well below market!).
In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.
Beyond the internal battle, my colleagues talked me into believing that the other side could never be greener. I started to believe that even though the hours sucked – the perks of public were unmatched. I can tell you – straight up – that is false.
After investing two years of my time into public accounting and realizing I was losing myself to the job, I knew it was time to really see what was out there.
I felt like my soul was being sucked out of me. Little by Little. Day by Day. Every day I woke up, I had to mentally prepare for the sh*t show I could potentially walk into. And knowing I would be spending 10+ hours with a team of people who I can barely be real with… Jesus take the wheel now.
I’m over it.
Today’s tip? Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that doesn’t serve you anymore, especially if it negatively affects your personal growth or your inner happiness.
For me, this meant that regardless of what my coworkers were saying, it was time to look outward. But little did I know that applying for new jobs would be a job within itself.
Stay tuned as the job hunt journey begins.
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