10 Reasons Why Youre Ready to Quit Your Job - When I Grow Up

10 Reasons Why Youre Ready to Quit Your Job - When I Grow Up In 2007, I was working at what should have been a dream job: a start-up-ish like company located in a hip downtown NYC neighborhood with lots of young people who sometimes wore their pjs to work. Better yet, I was in a role  that highlighted my relationship and communication skills, which was super important to me. I took that job as a way to get out of the sales positions I bounced around from when I was still kidding myself that I was going to Be An Actress.  I went along with my largely commission-only positions while pushing back the tiny voice in the back of my head that told me I no longer wanting acting to be my career.  So I got a grown-up job that looked so good on paper, complete with the mythical things I dreamed of, like medical insurance and a 401K. And yet, there he was: my verbally abusive boss who obviously felt threatened by those who reported to him and were given good reports. While my clients and colleagues loved working with me, he publicly berated me every chance he got, blamed me for things that werent even close to my fault, and shamed me the next day if I didnt answer his emails at 11:00 at night. I was there for about a year until that fateful morning. Picture it: I was on the subway during rush hour, and feeling more and more nauseous with each stop. I had to run out at Union Square one of the busiest stations and dry heave into the trash can next to the train, surrounded by hundreds of people trying to get to work. Did I head right home and call in sick? No. No, I did not. Because this job had such a hold on me, I took the stairs up to the street and walked the 20ish blocks to the office, where I grabbed my laptop and told my colleagues that I needed to work from home that day. Can you guess what happened? The moment I hit the street to head home, I felt fine. Talk about a wake-up call! I knew I couldnt stay in this job, and that I had to do some soul-searching to figure out what I could do for work that I could also feel passionate about. My own situation, and the ones that Ive gotten a front-row seat to on behalf of my clients, have led me to come up with 10 reasons why youre ready to quit your job. For me, it was to (a) get the heck out of that situation ASAP and find whatever other stopgap I could in order to save my mental health, amen and hallelujah  and (b) find my grown-up, authentic career. For you, it might be to take your time and find a similar job at a different company that feels like a better fit, or the time to quit and actually go all-in on your own business. Regardless of where you end up, here are the ways to know its time to leave: 1. Youre psychosomatic.  See above. 2. Youre depleted all the time.  If you mostly only have energy to work, Netflix and chill even on the weekends then theres something really wrong here. You know when youre bone-tired too often, or cant seem to get your act together to cook a few good dinners each week, play with your kids, and/or get together with friends. When exercise and self-care has become a thing of the past, its time to take a closer look as to what isnt working about work. 3. You dont like the person you are at work.  I always remember my husband giving this as a reason he left his full-time job to become a freelancer. He recognized that he was short-tempered at work, and overwhelmingly felt agitated with his work environment. He didnt like being that person 40+ hours/week, and by cutting the employee ties he also cut the office politics that went along with it. While he still works in the same industry, he has more autonomy and rarely goes into the office, so hes happier day-to-day with his work responsibilities and deadlines. 4. You spend most of your time bitching about work.  This was  so me at the job I mentioned above. It got to the point where even I was sick of complaining about it!  And yet, it was part of my self-imposed therapy that helped me deal with this toxic culture. It was the worst. 5. Youre underappreciated.  Every time I hear from clients how they managed a major account or pulled off a killer project and yet got zero acknowledgements, it makes me absolutely nutso in the buttso. If this is you, and you know youre someone whos motivated by private and/or public appreciation, its time to hit the bricks. 6. You feel unfulfilled and/or inauthentic.  The day job I got once I realized I wanted to be a coach was an Executive Assistant for a financial consultancy company. Um, can you picture this? Talk about a bad fit! And yet, it was worth it for me to stick around and file expense report after expense report and set up travel itinerary after travel itinerary  and make copy after copy of meeting  decks because the pay was the best I ever got and I didnt have to work overtime in any way. But seriously, I felt like I had a mask on every weekday from 7:30am when I put on my business casual attire til 7:30p, when I got to trade em in for My Real Clothes or my pjs. Seriously, this is a really shitty way to feel for most  of your  waking hours each week. 7. You have enough savings and/or a short list of other ways you can make money, and youre not too worried that you wont be able to make ends meet if you cant match your current income for a few months.  Let me italicize this to bring the point home:  Do not make assumptions when it comes to your financial situation.  My clients do this all the time, and without fail, they come back to me the next week (after being given the homework to actually look at their statements and accounts) saying they have more resources than they thought. 8. Youve been side hustling and feel confident-ish about making the transition to your own business.  Also worth italicizing: You will never feel capital-r Ready. Ever.  This will ALWAYS feel like jumping off a cliff, and youll have a huge case of the AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!s when it comes to giving your notice and becoming a full-time business owner. But the proof is also in the pudding. If youve been continually moving forward with your business, and feel confident-ish about putting the pedal to the medal once youve freed up 40ish hours/week, then youre ready enough to quit and leap! 9. There is no room for advancement in your company.  Im working with a client now who has been in the same position for 8 years. 8 years! Also: shes pretty much the only employee, so theres nowhere to go. Yeah. Time to leave, unless its your bridge job and youre waiting for a different reason to leave. 10. Youve been doing the same thing for years and are bored out of your mind.  See point #9. If you read this far, then I want to give you the biggest hug. I know  exactly the spot youre in right now and promise you that if you take action, It Gets Better. Thankfully, I can credit that moment on the subway to  all the good that came after it: realizing I wanted to be a life coach (of all silly things!) that works with creative people on their career transitions, getting certified + engaged + married all while working my 50 hour/week corporate job, quitting 2 years and 7 months later in the middle of a recession to be The When I Grow Up Coach full-time (was I crazy?!), making the Forbes Top 100 Websites for Your Career list, publishing a book, teaching for CreativeLive, working with hundreds of creative women to help them discover/launch/ grow their dream businesses, making my corporate salary the first full year I was in business (and growing it to six-figures annually), and feeling fully authentic and purposeful with my work ever since. If I had a time machine, Id travel to that day in 2007 and tell Past Michelle that shell be thankful for that moment a few years down the line! If you decide that youve hit your breaking point and enough is enough, then you can hop on that time machine with me and say the same thing to your Present Self. Road trip!