Have you been exhausted from your corporate job, while considering to develop your business, based on your own terms? In this blog post, I have listed 8 infallible signs that show you’re ready to leave your 9 to 5 job. Let’s dive into some exciting ideas and opportunities!
Signs to quit your 9 to 5 job | How to quit your job?
Are you ready to leave your 9 to 5 job?
What are the major reasons that make people shy away from working steady jobs in prosperous corporations these days? Here are just a few questions to ask yourself to help you settle whether or not your current 9 to 5 job has become a wretch:
- Have you considered shifting your focus from corporate life to building your own company, working for yourself, and being your own boss?
- Are you being bored to continuously follow rigid corporate rules and abide by the imposed shared-values system?
- Are you sad that you’re not being able to explore your real possibilities?
- Do you believe that you can do more, gain more income, and work under your terms?
- Do you have a desire to grow as a person while learning how to grow your business?
- Do you crave more flexibility and spontaneity in your life?
- Have your job duties and tasks become a pain in the neck, unbearable boredom, or the source of anxiety?
These questions are a nice summary of what you’re going through if you need a career shift. More and more people these days see the solution to these issues in starting a new career journey on their own terms. Think this way: why would you suffer at the job you hate for the sake of just having a job?
If you feel like you want more from your life than a predictable daily routine, you’re not the only one. There is a staggering number of people like you that just don’t want to fit in into corporate culture. If you think the corporate world has been too controlling, with too many unnecessary rules that kill every possibility for a little dose of flexibility, then you are meant for more.
My personal opinion is that the paycheck is really important, as I wouldn’t want to work at low-paid jobs myself, but what also matters is personal growth. Has your current job the opportunity to help you grow and reach your full potential? Do you feel excited, happy, or energetic during your workday or your working time is neverending?
Signs that show you’re ready to leave your job
Let’s explore these signs in a little depth:
- You need more flexibility in your life
- You need more freedom (need to develop your life and your business on your own terms)
- You feel tied up/exhausted/dead inside in your current job
- You simply want more from your life (bigger salary, achievements, personal development)
- Exhaustion from shared corporate values and rigid rules which you dislike
- You need personal development that comes with developing your business and gaining new skills along the way
- You need to feel more alive
You need more flexibility in your life
Imagine having the same routine in your life from Monday to Friday for decades until retirement. The fixed work schedule forces you to adapt your life to your work, not otherwise, meaning your life comes in second place.
Perhaps you’re just not the morning person, and you hate hearing the alarm clocks in the morning. Perhaps you’re more productive in the evenings. Perhaps you want to make a shift from the classical, 8 hours continuous work.
As you know, most companies don’t let you choose how you’ll work and when you’ll work, and require from the employees to be available in a certain time frame no matter what.
You need more freedom
What does freedom mean to you? Is it to have a business on your own terms? Being your own boss is super nice if you manage to juggle all the obligations. But as you know, when there is a will – there is certainly a way. If your daily working routine of 8 and more hours has become too much, you can as your own boss manage your own workload.
You feel tied up in your current job
If you have a feeling that you’re not enjoying your job, don’t find the working day exciting and stimulating, it might mean you’re tied up there. Job is just a job, as some might say, but is it so? Does it have to be boring, uninspiring, life-sucking?
It’s hard to recharge your expended energy after the long, uninspiring, and tiring working day. Do you work in an open space? Then you might have accidentally picked up the toxic energy of your colleagues. Are you exhausted from the constant chatter in the background? That sensory overload can be stressful.
These are just a few signs you’d like to consider when making a decision, especially if you’re an introvert, and a highly sensitive person because corporate environments add to the stress and anxiety.
You simply want more from your life
Do you have big dreams you want to achieve, but it’s impossible in a corporate environment? Do you want a bigger paycheck that that one the company’s willing to offer to you? It’s ok to dream big and not wanting to settle for less.
You feel the exhaustion from shared corporate values and rigid rules
Some people like to be a part of a corporate collective with mutual values, rules, and requirements. They feel secure, respected, and connected with others that way. However, if you don’t resonate with this, you may find corporate values irritating. Also, corporate hangouts and team buildings are often a must, while you’d rather be lying in bed, minding your own stuff. The companies define what’s socially acceptable and what’s not. If you don’t mind adapting to the shared values, it’s ok. However, not everyone enjoys it.
When you’re your own boss, you define your values on your own. No forced team buildings, or imposed rules that make it harder to focus on your job only. The fact is that some people like to be a part of a greater collective, and feel valued and welcomed that way while others don’t. You can choose for yourself.
You want personal development
Human beings are always multidimensional. You might have an interest in social sciences while working as a programmer. Or, you may be a personal growth geek, like me. The main question here to ask yourself is: “Does my job help me prosper in areas that are of the highest importance to me? Or, do I stagnate, or make a regression in it?”
Gaining new skills in your job is always a beautiful thing because no one wants to be stuck doing the same repetitive tasks each and every day (well, most of the people don’t). Professional advancement is always a nice achievement. However, if you feel that there’s so much more you’d like to develop (and it is not related to your job) and there is no way to get it there, you might want to consider a career change.
You need to feel more alive
Nothing is worse than being stuck in a job, where hours seem like an eternity, and working time is filled with exhaustion, boredom, or perpetual anticipation.
Have a deep inner talk with yourself to figure out if you want to do that kind of job in the first place. The responses might surprise you. If you don’t feel even the tiny piece of curiosity and eagerness, then you perhaps should rethink your career.
Also, ask yourself if you’re doing that job to impress others (example: it sounds nice, hard to master, challenging, etc), or you do it because YOU want to do it.
The importance of changes
Is it worthwhile to quietly suffer each day just out of fear of failure? I believe it’s not. We only got one life and let’s use it the best way we can. Some changes are inevitable, and very needed, although they might be painful at the beginning.
The world is constantly changing and evolving, so why would you limit yourself? If your current job stifles any opportunity for personal growth, it’s not the right job.
I know that for most of us these are highly challenging times. Many of you have lost your jobs, while some of you are grateful for what you have. Perhaps it’s a bit pretentious to give you advice like this is these turbulent times. However, it doesn’t mean you’ll need to settle for less if you have a desire to get more from your life: either more cash, flexibility, freedom, personal growth.
If you have fear of change, I highly recommend the wonderful novel I read recently: “Who moved my cheese?” It’s wondrously simple but up to the point, with numerous valuable messages across it. I love it!
How to leave your 9 to 5 job?
As we all know, it’s not easy to jump into the unknown without any plan, side jobs, clients, online visibility, etc. There are many ways to leave your job, but I’d advise you to find the approach that suits you most. However, a well-planned and carefully implemented plans will save you from disappointments (not enough income, too little clients, etc). Here is my advice on how you can carry out that change:
- find out what you’d love to do, what really makes you happy, what you’re good at, and what can bring you a satisfactory amount of money
- make a decision about your organization (sole proprietor, freelancer, entrepreneurship) and weight the pros and cons of each of them
- define your ideal clients
- make a business plan of how and where are you going to market your services/products
- define a list of services/products you’re going to sell
- define a timetable for launching the business
- define financial goals and expenses
- get some clients and secure some savings before jumping in
- make the jump
- work on expanding your business
I'm a blogger and idealist. I've been exploring mindfulness, mental health, and other psychology and personal growth topics for years. I strive for harmony, self-improvement, inner peace and perfection. I am a narcissist abuse victims advocate and an empath.
Contact: sonja@upbeatimpulse.com
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