Devin Dornbrock There are a lot of reasons to quit a job. Regardless of what anyone tells you, you don’t need a huge life-changing reason to do so either. Even if you know you want to leave, it can be hard to get up the courage to do so. Hopefully, this list of reasons can be the push you need if you’ve been thinking about quitting.
You’re unhappy
There is absolutely nothing wrong with leaving a job when you’re unhappy. Many factors can make you unhappy in a work environment, and you shouldn’t have to put up with anything unreasonable. If you’re working a full-time, 40 hour a week job and something is making you unhappy, you should consider leaving it.
If it’s something that you can fix, then try to fix it, but a lot of the time, the things that make us unhappy are out of our control. So logically, we should take steps that are in our power to ensure we remain happy. Don’t waste your life on something that makes you unhappy.
Note: You will not be 100% happy all of the time at work. Something will inevitably irritate you. I’m not saying to leave your job because something happened once that you didn’t like. I am saying that if you’re unhappy 99% of the time, it’s a sign.
You found something better
Kind of a no-brainer here. If a better opportunity comes around, then you should take it. Don’t let something amazing slip through your fingers just because you’re comfortable where you are. It can be hard to venture into the unknown and adjust to a whole new work environment, but the best rewards do come with some risks.
If you’re brave enough, you can try to use another opportunity to leverage some sort of raise or promotion at your current workplace, but if you’re young, it isn’t a bad idea to try out something different and learn from new people in a new place.
You’re just in a bad environment
Even if you’re paid well and have great benefits, sometimes a workplace just sucks. Maybe it’s toxic, and you’re unhappy, or maybe you just don’t feel quite right in whatever industry you’re working in. Maybe the people around you just make you super uncomfortable. You don’t have to justify leaving a place that feels wrong to you.
Sometimes we don’t realize how bad something is until we look at it in hindsight. If you have even an inkling of something being wrong or making you uncomfortable, don’t ignore it. Listen to your gut and really look at what your workplace is like. Talk about it with someone who doesn’t work there and ask for their perspective.
Even if you can endure a bad work environment, you still deserve something better.
It feels like you’re stuck
Some jobs are easy and comfortable. You punch in, punch out, rinse, and repeat. If you look back in ten years and you’re still in the same place, though, will you be satisfied? So it’s important to find a job where you can learn and grow.
It has happened to so many people I know. We find something “good enough” and never leave or try to do more. Being in a comfortable rut is more appealing than putting yourself through the trial by fire that is a job search. You never know what opportunities you’re going to miss if you just stay in one place forever, though.
If you’re not going to climb the ranks where you’re at, it might be time to head somewhere else.
The commute sucks
When you have a long and terrible commute, you always have a few options. You can try to convince your boss to let you work from home (did you know that more than 70% of Americans started working from home during the pandemic?), you can move somewhere closer, or you can straight up quit.
I know plenty of people who have stuck to commutes straight out of hell, and if I’m honest, they scare me a little bit. In college, I knew someone who took a train two hours each way every day just to get to campus. I don’t know how they did it. I know I couldn’t. When I was searching for a job, I wouldn’t even consider anything with a commute longer than 45 minutes.
So, if you’re like me and you just can’t stand a long commute, it may be time to switch things up and find a new job.
It’s too hard to do the things you want
It’s completely valid to change to a different job that lets you do more of what you want. Whether that means giving you more time off, getting a bigger paycheck, letting you travel, or maybe you just like working directly with people. When you find a job, it’s the employer that is lucky to have you. Don’t believe anyone who tells you it’s the other way around.
It may take a long time, but if you keep at it, you’ll be able to find something new that better fits with the things you want to do.
If you’re struggling with how to get where you want to go, you can always sign up for our coaching program! Our coaches have great insight and advice on getting you where you want to be and can even help you figure out a career path that matches up with how you want to live your life.
At the end of the day, it’s entirely up to you whether you stay or find something new. There are many factors in your life that can make the decision a lot easier or a lot harder. If you decide to quit, that’s great! Make sure you plan what to do next and be confident that you don’t have to justify yourself to anyone.
Keep your head held high and live your best life.
Have you ever quit a job before?
