It’s Not Quitting

I hate the word quit. I think it’s one of the worst words in the dictionary. I’ve never been a quitter nor would I ever consider myself one. I think it’s great when people are quitters though. You quit smoking, you quit drinking soda and lost weight, you quit being a jerk, etc. Any time I think of quitting, I can’t wrap my mind around it. I feel like I actually have to push myself to quit.

I tried playing the violin back in 6th grade, I didn’t hate it but it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to put forth the effort, I just didn’t like playing the violin. I didn’t find it fun or interesting thus my lack of effort put forth. So, I did what any 6th-grade kid would do in this situation, I asked my parents to quit. So I went to school the next day and told my music teacher, Mr. Sands, that I quit playing the violin. I didn’t like it and I didn’t want to play anymore. What he said next has stuck with me ever since. “You’re quitting? That’s it? You know that you quit now you’re going to quit in life. Is that what you’re going to do in life when things get hard? You’re just going to quit?” I’m a 12-year old kid getting one of the biggest life lessons. It meant nothing to me at the time. Now, I think about it every single time quitting ever crosses my mind because I want nothing more than to prove him wrong. I haven’t spoken or seen or even heard of Mr. Sands in at least 7 years, and I may never see him again, but I want nothing more than to not let him be right.

When is it Time?

How do you know when it’s time to start looking for a new position? How do you know it IS time to start looking? Well, don’t let me be the one to answer that for you. However, I had a gut feeling. I would suggest trusting your gut as well. How do you feel coming into work every day? How do you feel when it’s getting close to leaving? Make a pros and cons list (as cliche as that is), but do it. Think about what you want to do in life and where you are at that moment. How can you get to step C if you’re still on step A?

You’re Quitting?

When it comes time to actually put in your two-week notice (unless you’re just so fed up that you can’t take another moment), how do you plan to do it? When I had to, I dreaded it. I wanted to put it off as long as possible because if there’s one thing in life that I despise, it’s disappointment. I hate being disappointed and I hate disappointing others. So I came in, told the people that needed to hear it and did my thing. The best part about it all was that they were understanding. They understood where I was coming from and where I was at/am at in my career and why I would want to make a change.

The word “quit” came up very often, but then again, what else should it be called? In my mind, I knew I was quitting, but I didn’t call it that. I kept trying to re-phrase it to something different. Something that made it seem like I wasn’t quitting and that I was actually doing something positive for myself. How can I be quitting something but actually be coming out ahead at the end of it? When you quit, that’s it. There’s no going back. It’s almost like when something happens to a company and they decide to re-brand themselves. That’s how I kept viewing it. I’m not quitting, I’m re-branding, I’m re-inventing myself into something more. I’m shedding a layer that was no longer necessary to have.

The Last Two Weeks

These were some of the weirdest days of my life. The majority of people that I worked with had been through what I was going through. Leaving a job but riding out the last two weeks. I mean what am I working toward at that point? Well, I wanted to leave on good terms. I’m not going to ruin years of hard work for the company to ruin it all in the last two weeks because now I want to slack off. What happens when they need to be used as a reference? Well, he did really well….but…his last two weeks he blah blah blah. I didn’t want that. I rode it out even knowing that the work I did I may never see the final result. Spoiler, I didn’t.

So the next time you’re looking to quit, thinking of quitting, or already did quit, take a moment and step back. You may not want to, but you may actually NEED to.