Legendary rock group the Clash had a song that I could so relate to at this point. Can you guess the song? Well, before this entry ends I’m sure you’d be singing along with me…hehehe..
What we know we need to do is sometimes the hardest thing to actually do.
The word QUIT speaks to me. Loudly, almost deafening and so much annoying. When do we give in? When do we embrace it? When do we welcome it?
Let’s see, I have been lurking around the net tryna find answers. Maybe reduce the reasoning for easier consumption. And this is what I’ve gathered from Yahoo Finance’s David Bach, author to the column, The Automatic Millionaire.
See, this dilemma was borne out of today’s frustration. Er, prolly aggravated by my frustration for the day…
I just sat here and thought, it’s been six friggin long years… do I still have a tinge of excitement left in me? Is it time to rethink, just like David said, about what I do or where I do it??? Tell tale signs are here. Let’s try to digest them for what they’re worth. Hope you are with me… all up to you if you’re putting a check or crossing it out…
1. You truly hate what you do.
That’s right. It all begins with the simple premise that if you hate what you do, it only follows that if you totally dislike what you do, you should already be able to say when you will quit the job.....we can do away with the reasons. What’s more important is that we already set a date. Procrastination is always a foe. Even if life is said to be short, I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Bach in saying that doing something that you hate would only make it seem very long and very miserable…
Proclaiming his dedication to teaching others how to be smarter with their money David believes that money frees people to live great lives. Based on his experience, for many people, “the goal of setting aside six months' worth of expenses” is often enough to free them from a job they hate.
But it can often take even less than that. He reiterates “sometimes, you simply need to quit your job before everything is perfect, because life is worth more than money”.
2. You asked for a raise and the answer was "no."
If you can sing with Donna Summer here, and you’re truly working hard for the munny… working your butt off week after week, month after month, and year after year, and you're not getting raises or growing your income, hello, skip the bull-- something is wrong. You can always try to rationalize the situation with all your might, or you—yes YOU can do something about it.
Think about this: Even if you get just the national average annual raise which is about a little less than 4 percent, in five years you will have increased your income by over 20 percent. We all could use these increases to be able to keep our head above water financially. It goes without saying that increase in the cost of gas alone requires that you earn a raise.
However -- and this is all too important -- you HAVE TO EARN it. I'm not talking about taking the attitude "give me a raise because of inflation." That will get you nowhere.
3. You work for a company you don't respect.
I don’t know what else could be more amazing a sign you’re waiting for than the fact that you’re not being paid well and not getting raises, and on top of that you don't respect the company where you spend 40 hours or more a week.
So let’s be honest with ourselves right now: Do we still respect the company we work for? Do we still like what it stands for? Do we still like what it does? Does it even care about us and the customers? Does it have a plan for the future, or is it living in the past? A simple yes can make all the difference much as a no can spell QUIT in bold bright letters.
4. You work for a company that doesn't respect you.
Respect is absolute. And we all need it to go live a fruitful life. It’s sad but true that not all companies are created equal. There will always bad, good, and great companies, and they all treat their people in radically different ways.
Try asking again: Does your company respect you? We pretty much know the answer, don't we?
5. You're bored to death and not challenged.
When the element of time is involved, change is inevitable and this prolly is the reason why it’s so hard to recognize that it’s time to G-O when you’re irritatingly bored to death and not challenged. Bach says, you may be one promotion away from new opportunities, but things can be pretty brutal if you've been bored out of your mind for years.
It’s also all possible by the way, even when you're experiencing tremendous success, getting raises, and working for a great company. You’re not an exception even if you run your own business. It can definitely happen when you've worked for 5, 10, 20, or 30 years and achieved all you ever dreamed of achieving. And, hey it can even come way sooner than that.
Plan Before You Go Go
This time I’d be quoting good ole diva Barbra Streisand that “Some good things never last”... Yup, it’s more often than not that we reach a point where what we do simply doesn't work anymore. Suddenly, the feeling is we're not fulfilled. Saturation point is what I would call it and at that point, you have to ask yourself if it's time to change where you are, or what you do where you are.
Mr. Automatic Millionaire David Bach says he’s not being cavalier by suggesting that you simply quit your job today. He’s suggesting though to think about these five signs he mentioned. It’s important for one to get a quiet time for you to ask yourself the questions. Eventually, talk them over with someone you love. Once you’ve figured out and embraced the fact that the answer is "yes, it's time to quit," then it's time to start planning the "I quit" date.
Try with all your might now to be smart, think it through, and once the decision is made, congratulate yourself for not settling on the status quo. It’s a matter of being brave and stepping outside one’s comfort zone…quitting a job definitely requires this which is not always an easy thing to do. But once you've done it,whoaaaa, you’ll be surprised with the new and exciting opportunities that await.
And on that note, I end with the Clash…
Sing with me if you will...”should I stay or should I go now?”….Darling, you gotta let me know now….hehehehe…
No comments:
Post a Comment