7 Reasons to Quit your Job

Daniel

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In October 2005 I received a degree in International Economics, and straight out of the university I went to work for a large multinational company. It is was the most obvious path for me to follow; my parents encouraged me to do so, and my friends were doing it also. After one year, however, I was not so sure that this was the right choice for me. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to take a shot and work on personal projects.

Late in 2006 I finally decided to run after my dreams. I quit my job, moved from Italy back to Brazil, and started to work full time with my blogs and other entrepreneurial projects, most of them related to the Internet. Below you will find 7 reasons that motivated me to take this decision. I had already written about those factors on another blog, but I decided to publish it on Daily Blog Tips as well because there are probably many bloggers on the same situation that I was, check it out:

1. If I will need to work my arse off, I’d rather do it for something that I own: I firmly believe that hard work is the foundation of success. Even if you consider supposed geniuses like great musicians or writers, history shows that behind each and every one of them there was an incredible amount of hard work. There is no easy way out and there are no shortcuts. So, if that is the case, it is clear that I will need to work damn hard no matter what I choose to do in life. Why not work that hard for my own self then?

2. Should you hit the jackpot with an idea, its your company that will collect most of the profits: Most people think that working for an organization is less risky than having your own business. The reasoning is right to a certain extent. After all, a standard job offers a secure pay check at the end of the month. This means that your income has a lower boundary, it will not go below a certain level no matter what. The problem, however, is that this security comes at the expense of limited earning potential. This means that your income will also have an upper boundary. It will not go above a certain level no matter what. Should you come up with a brilliant idea that generate millions for your company, it is unlikely that you will share the profits.

3. Companies pay you for your time, not for the value you create: I confess I have never understood the logic behind hourly wages. People’s salary should be based on the value they bring to the company on not on the number of hours they work weekly or monthly. Some organizations offer performance based retributions, that is a beginning but it is not enough. Think about a book. You are willing to pay a certain price for that book because you will get some value out of it right? Now, it does not matter if the writer took 10, 5 or 2 years to write the book. The price you are willing to pay is still the same and proportional to the value the book has to you.

4. Hierarchy and politics? No Thanks: Large organizations tend to be hierarchical and there is nothing you can do about it. People are classified according to their rank or seniority rather than by the quality of their ideas or by their drive. Sometime ago I was trying to implement the first internal blog for my division. The first thing I did was to call directly the HQ guy who was responsible for the communications platform, and he assured me that it would take no longer than 1 week to set the blog up. Guess what, after a couple of days I received a call from the Communications manager from our division, she wanted to “explain to me the rules of the game”(!). Basically she told me that all the communications related requests needed to pass through her no matter what, and she would therefore take charge of the blog set up. Two months after that call my division was still waiting for the blog.

5. I want to work on my own terms: Some time ago, more specifically under the industrial age, it probably made sense to get people grouped together in a single location, for a specific time span, all wearing a standard uniform. Do the same rules apply to the information age, though? I do not think so. If someday my company will grow so that I will need to hire people all I will tell them is: “Look, I don’t care if you work at 4 pm or in the middle of the night, at home or in the office, and if you do come to the office I don’t care if you wear shorts and sandals just like I don’t care if you listen to music while you work, do as you please as long as you get the job done!”.

6. Even if you screw it up for 10 years you will still learn a lot more: Many people told me to wait a couple of years more before starting my company. They said that I still lacked the experience. Well, maybe they are right and I do lack the experience. So what? Even if I get every thing wrong for the first 10 years I will probably learn a lot more than if I had stayed inside a large corporation. When you go alone you need to take all the decisions, solve all the problems and bear all the responsibility.

7. Are you doing what you love?: Passion is difficult to fake, you are either doing what you love or you are not, there is no in-between. Suppose you just won the lottery and money is not a problem anymore. What kind of work would you still be willing to do even for free? Personally I would write articles to share my ideas and would pursue some entrepreneurial projects. The question then becomes: “Do I really need to win the lottery to start doing that?”. Hell no! Once you realize that, it becomes much easier to drop everything else and start working on things that you really love.

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70 Responses to “7 Reasons to Quit your Job”

  • BMarvelous

    I agree that quitting your job and becoming your own business owner is a good idea. I currently still have my daily job while I’m working on my website. The main and obvious benefits are working when you please, making decisions without having to deal with a hierarchy, and making more money (most times). I think that within the next year I will be able to quit my job and work on my blog in which I have a passion about and don’t have a problem waking up everyday to work on it.

  • Dewalt 18v

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  • DearErin

    I 100% agree with your article.

    Also, I love the person who quoted Pink Floyd’s song lyrics! How true!

    And the person who said staying up till 5, going to bed, then getting up a few hours later feels great when it’s your own project – but not when it’s a “job”. That hit home with me.

    If somebody hates their job so much, why do they stay? Money shouldn’t be an excuse…

  • Reborn Babies

    Well, no matter how much you get paid or how elite your job title is, the ultimate question is, are you happy? A good majority of our waking hours are spent working. Life seems a bit of a waste if you don’t enjoy that time. If you don’t enjoy it – stop wasting your life.

  • Tips and Reasons

    Great article…

  • Richard X. Thripp

    Great article. Even if you have endless riches, you’re still going to want to do something–whatever that is is probably what you should be doing now. I like the experience reason. The truth is, you’ll learn ten times as much from a year of unemployment (a.k.a. self-employment) than from a year with a ‘normal’ job.

    While you can be certain you’ll be paid a certain amount for the work you’ve done in a traditional job, it can be cut off at any time. Even if you don’t do anything ‘wrong’, you can be cut to save money. And, unlike with quitting where a two-week notice is demanded of you, your employer will terminate you on the spot. Funny how things work, huh?

  • SEO Genius

    They are 7 reasons why i will not get a job rather stay self employed 🙂
    Ok i am a student but i do not plan on ever being employed one of my aims in life 😀

  • Sagar

    Very nice article, Daniel…

    I was casually searching for some reasons, and these reasons I found to be the most convincing, rather thoughtful and mature and long term…

    I think the primary reason one cannot quit a job is money and the fact that they are liable. They have loans on cars, homes, and what not, and it’s simply impossible for them to quit and take such a huge risk of owning something… However, as you rightly said, it’s a way around to first gather enough money to ensure you’re safe enough, and then pursue your hobbies or your business, or the work you love. That’s certainly a good idea, because this is a big decision to make!! And you can anytime join elsewhere, if you feel you’re getting insecure!! 🙂

  • Taimoor

    Hi i am a 18 year blogger and i need tips and help in gaining or getting traffic for my blog plz plz plz help me.waiting for your reply
    thanx.

  • John Rocheleau – Landscape painting

    I also chose to leave employment, though I had one additional and important reason: I have some physical issues that made it difficult for me to continue working on someone else’s terms. I had the burning desire to be independent, but the physical problems gave me the final nudge.

    Some people are fine with their employment, but others need to call their own shots. They either find themselves in senior management, or they leave to do their own thing.

    There’s a big difference though between the senior management person and the person who quits to follow their dream. They are both skilled at making good decisions, getting things done, and taking responsibility, but the new entrepreneur must create his own framework. He is totally on his own with no established structure to operate within. That’s part of the beauty of it, but I think it would derail a lot of otherwise brilliant corporate management people.

    Also, the go-it-alone person really sucks at playing the “game” that seems to be the rule in many corporations — an unproductive and fear-based convention.

    Good stuff,
    John

  • Hectril

    Great reasons and its nice you pointed this out and I have to agree with you on this. Working in a company has its security for your paycheck but for how long? Also some have those so called age-limit factor in their policy, when you reached this age poof your gone. Also I notice other companies tend to have their favorite workers (pets) and if your not one of them or you don’t tend to agree with some management system they send you packing. Its much better to be your own boss at your own time. One thing I notice about blogging you can do anything you want with your own time and place to do it. It does takes time but in the end it pays off. Some blogs have their own strategy like Adsense and Adwords and a lot more to monitize their blogs.

  • aubergine

    Thank you. I agree with you.

  • Aneesh

    I too dont want to get hired by a company for a job..I am more interested in doing it myself maybe blogging might help..

  • John

    Dang it, forgot what I started out to say in my previous comment.

    I absolutely agree – if your job isn’t working for you, by all means don’t be afraid to quit! – NOW

    Life is way to short to waste time doing something you loathe.

  • John
  • Voice Of Dingchao

    Thank you very much for your opinion. I have the same opinion. We have a lot in common. I graduated from a university this July, and now I am working in a pharmaceutical company. But my aim is doing my own business. I have been doing business online since last year when I was still in university. I wil quit my day job when I have the ability to say no.

  • kaeyau

    If somebody pays you a 100 to get a job done he is not doing it for free!
    Obviously he is getting 100-plus in value back from you.

    The longer you work for that guy the more “plus” your a feeding him free of charge , right?

  • Livio

    I agree with Mark’s point on “Did your current level of family responsibilities or commitments factor into your decision?”
    and Daniel’s answer too… am on the same process right now. Am working on contract and it gets over in one and half year at the same time my wife is carrying out the business and i do it after office work till mid-night. Things are going on well and am planning to move totally in it after finishing my contract.

  • blogr

    you have written what i have in my mind. Good posts 🙂

    – blogr
    http://blogrtools.blogspot.com

  • batter store

    Very inspiring. I am doing what I love

  • ANNA GABRIEL ULOMI

    Am Anna Gabriel from TAnzania,am very much interested with your pints why to quit from job.That is right but you must be prepared for that and have funds to start your own project.This is so nice coz the profit earned is yours not like when your employed especially for low level employee although they are the one who work hard for success but they are not considered.Top management they enjoy the profit earned.

    GREAT ARTICLE!
    Have a nice time.

  • Girish

    Daniel,

    Well said ! I have read a similar post ( a bit more elaborate) at Steve Pavlina’s Blog. Possibly readers can continue reading his peices of Advice as well to go with yours !

  • Sim

    MMM!!! I’m so scared to quit but ideas of starting something floating in my mind what I need to do now, I would like to start a small divine/ lounge that will accomodate at leasst 100 to 150 people but to start . . . i’m ver afraid to just leave

  • dyingtoknow

    “upper boundary income” — not good, that’s why I’m starting my own business, though I still work for my company, really like your quote : “If I will need to work my arse off, I’d rather do it for something that I own”

  • Alistair

    A lot depends on your situation i guess. If you have mouths to feed then quiting your job is a bit risky.

    I work for myself online, but I only have myself to take care off so the risk is limited. I also have a few other areas of passive income.

    Its a good life so work when you want and on your terms, time is precious.
    http://www.reborn-baby.com

  • Amanda

    The only issue is knowing when it is the right time to quit.

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