We all know about the ‘Great Resignation’. It’s the name given to the trend of people choosing to quit or change their jobs, or considering doing so in the near future. The Great Resignation started after the Covid-19 pandemic, which, according to economist Anthony Klotz who coined the phrase, made employees re-evaluate the importance of family time, remote work, commuting, passion projects, life and death and what they expect from employers.

 

My Great Resignation

 

I quit my job.

 

You know when you’re just done? I’m done. I handed my notice in without another job to go to. I’m done. What happened? It’s never one thing. Just like you know when you’re done with a romantic relationship, I knew I needed to end my employment.

 

Pity party

 

It wasn’t one thing, it was 20 things. It was 19 things that I didn’t like about the place that I put up with because there were about 3 things that I did like about the place, but then I would spend all of my time outside of work moaning, whinging, complaining about this and that and who said what. I was tired of hearing myself moaning. I started turning down invitations to meet up with friends because I knew I would start moaning and I just couldn’t bear to hear myself anymore.

 

That was thing number 20 about my job – that it turned me into ‘her’. The ‘her’ you hope you don’t bump into in the kitchen when you’ve just turned up to make a quick cup of tea and dash back to work, but ‘she’ catches you and starts bringing you down. Your day was going fine but then ‘she’ started her moaning again and dragged you into her pity party. That was me – I was the pity party.

 

Sharing is caring

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for sharing. It’s important to allow yourself to feel all of your feelings and a lot of the time when you do, you’re inviting others to share with you and letting them know it’s ok to feel that way and they’re not alone. Sharing your feelings with someone else is an excellent coping mechanism – it is one I exercise with my children all the time. Whether they’re in the throws of a tantrum or a little bit teary after one of their friends did something mean, I’m always there to listen, and it always helps them to have someone hear them and show understanding.

 

But I’m a grown up, and there’s a line.

 

Fart in a lift

 

There’s a point at which you can give a friend an ear and show understanding, then they take it too far and you need to get away from them like a fart in a lift. I became the fart in the lift.

 

It wasn’t the job, it was any job. I never wanted to be an office 9-5er. I promised myself at the end of university that I wasn’t going to end up in an office job and that’s exactly what happened.

 

Problem was I never really knew what I wanted to do. But the education system forces you to choose a career path and find a job working for someone else. Gravity pulled me into a safe and steady job as a Maths teacher and then onto a safe and steady career as an Accountant. The career wheel at school said those were both good jobs for a person that’s good with numbers. But I never enjoyed my job.

 

Change the mould

 

Working a job that you don’t enjoy is bearable if the pay is good enough and the working conditions suit your lifestyle. Absent those things and you’re spending the best part of the day (if you’re lucky enough to not have to work overtime) doing something that you don’t enjoy. Of course it’s going to lead to resentment. Of course you’re going to bring that misery home. Left unchecked, that kind of negativity will spread like a virus, infecting your colleagues, friends and family until you do something about it. It’s happened to me in enough jobs now that I’ve realised I need to stop trying to fit myself into a mould that I clearly do not fit and pour my energy into something I enjoy. I need to change the mould. It’s not that I don’t like working. I love getting into something, problem-solving, persevering and triumphing. I love working hard on a project and then having a damn good rest. That kind of rhythm has always suited me. I just need to do it in a field I enjoy.

 

No regrets

 

That’s all well and good but it’s not like you can just drift through your life doing absolutely nothing while you wait for your life purpose to tap you on the shoulder! So unless you choose a path to go down, how can you ever discover what does and doesn’t make you happy? You can’t.

 

Every failure is a lesson.

 

I have no regrets. My aim now is to be as fiercely protective of my happiness as I am of my children. I may well end up back in employment but I am clearer now on what I need from my next job, what my boundaries are and how important it is for me to make space for the things that matter to me.

 

Inspiration

 

Tim Denning is an excellent writer. He’s funny and engaging and has inspired me to just dive in and get writing. If you’re having any doubts about your job or are interested in writing, he has a lot of free and useful information on his website and LinkedIn. His Unconventional Leaders newsletter is one of the few newsletters I subscribe to and definitely worth following. He wrote a great piece on The Great Resignation as well. Love this guy.

 

Wherever you are in your career, I wish you all the best. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

 

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