Why I quit my job

My last day of work at my 9-5 job was on September 27th. This was a monumental day for me as I was planning my exit for two and a half years before that. As soon as I started working at my former company I realized I would have to leave, and it took two and a half damn years to do it. Part of the reason is of course social pressure, fear, and comfort. I eventually said fuck all that noise and just quit my job. Here’s why.

I quit my job and feel so much better.

When I first started my job it was more out of pressure than anything else. I’m not sure I ever really wanted to work at my company. I was working at a local beer distributor before entering the morass that is corporate America. For years I was sliding through life pretty comfortably. I was not where I wanted to be obviously, but I was in such a place that the situation didn’t necessitate instant change. It came to a point when I started to get pissed at my fellow coworkers and couldn’t take the bullshit anymore when I said I had to make a change.

I had some friends that I worked with at the store who got jobs at a medical compliance company where they pretty much copied and pasted hospital records all day. For what it was, it paid pretty good and you were pretty much left alone to your work. As long as you were meeting productivity, no one messed with you. I should point out that even though it was an ok job, I knew from the start that I had to leave because it was just so damn boring. However, I let it play out because it gave me the freedom to move into the city and live life a little more on my own terms.

As time went on the company got a lot more “corporate”. The nurse supervisors who were all nice ladies were given other positions and we got managers who were basically people who did what I did before becoming a manager. These assholes of course get a little taste of power and it goes right to the head for them. It got so bad that I started getting calls and emails every day about different issues that were not important at all. They would also have monthly conference calls to give out new directives. Of course this was rehashed bullshit. At the end of every call they would take questions. It was an exercise in lip service because they never actually listened to anything anyone had to say. Sound familiar?

Finally I had enough of the bullshit. I had some conversations with my manager and they told me that once I give my two weeks, I would lose all my vacation time I built up. The beauty of my company was that only three people could be off on weekdays, and on weekends only two people could be off. I checked the calendar and the whole month was already booked up. This was in July of 2013. So I said fuck it and booked vacation time for the end of August and the beginning of September. Afterwards I put in my two weeks notice and worked like a champion the last two weeks just because that’s how I roll.

My last day was amazing, I destroyed my productivity requirements, packed up all my shit, and handed over my laptop to my manager. I said keep it real, and waltzed out of the place. I considered taking something from the office as a keepsake for all the shit I went through at the company, but realized that would be childish. No one was making me work there besides myself. After I left I went over to Wegmans and had a beast ass dinner at the salad bar. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life.

When pressed by my managers on what I was going to do I just told them I had a thriving pirate dvd empire in New York, and that I was going to focus on that full time. I either told them that or I said “nothing”. They asked, “Well aren’t you going to look for another job?” I of course answered no. They didn’t seem to understand how I could just quit my job.

Some reasons why I quit, and some considerations to take before you quit you job.

The reasons I quit my job were stagnation, hating life, boredom, and challenge.

Stagnation
-I wasn’t going anywhere in the company. There was no promotions to be had, no more money to entice me to stay. There wasn’t any “profit sharing” if you will. It was basically more of the same for years making a small amount of money so as to not be able to do anything fun with my life, and yet have enough to enjoy a modicum of freedom. That’s bullshit. The time was nigh to shake everything up.

Hating life
-The bottom line was that I was depressed from doing boring shit every day for 8 hours and getting hassled at the same time. I wasn’t getting paid nearly enough to take that bullshit. I’m amazed I stayed at my position as long as I have. I started to hate life. Leaving the company was the only way to claw my way out of a pit of depression.

Boredom
-8 hours every day of going in the same hospital system and repeating the same process. I had it down to such a science I could bang out cases so fast, but what’s my motivation? Every day started feeling exactly the same.

Challenge
-I’m usually up for some challenging shit. What better way than to turn my whole life upside down? The challenge was that I wanted to do my own thing. Could I make it on my own and be disciplined enough to work every day without someone looking at my productivity? Challenge accepted.

Now before you go out and quit your job, you should think earnestly about these topics. Some considerations to take before you leave are housing, debt, plans, and taking action

Housing
-Where the hell are you going to live? After I quit I was able to move back to my parent’s house as uncomfortable as that is. Obviously there are pros and cons to that scenario, but you have to think where you are going when you lose your income, and what kind of sacrifices you are willing to make.

Debt
-Are you in any debt? I was lucky never to have been in any debt. When I left my company I had thousands of dollars saved up as well. If you are in debt, perhaps you should figure out a plan to eliminate your debt as soon as possible before making the leap. Make the leap eventually yes, but come up with a very clear cut path to eliminating debt before doing so. Perhaps strive to live a very humble life while you get your debt paid off, then make power moves.

Plans
-What are your actual plans for getting money? I’m all for seeing the matrix we’re all trapped in, but at the end of the day you need money to survive. Do you have a plan to start a business or have some other gig lined up already? Great! If not, maybe still quit!

Taking action
-What is the point of making drastic changes in your life if you fail to take action afterwards? It’s like someone who drops all their shitty friends because they are trying to better themselves in life. Great, but if you don’t take any action to actually better yourself, what was the point of losing the friends? Take a look at whether you are actually willing to take action. If you aren’t, then perhaps you are better suited to your job after all.

Think about what I just laid out and weigh your options. Not everyone is up for a life of freedom believe it or not, there’s nothing wrong with working a 9-5, it’s just not for me. Decide for yourself if it’s for you, but think long and hard about it. The life of freedom is a hard road, but worth while in the end. No one said freedom would be easy.