1 Simple Way to Know if You Should Quit Your Current Job

One of my readers, Anthony - Hi Anthony! - asked me to write a post to address the following issue:

' how one can know whether their company or work place is right for them. For instance company culture is very important and often people find themselves in jobs where although the work might not be up their alley they could be massively driven due to the environment. Whilst the opposite is equally true. I know many people that do a type of work they wish to do but have zero motivation due to doing it in the wrong place. It is difficult to know the right way to act in those situations and to know whether or not to look for something better.'

I hear the dilemma... So.. let's take a step back. Rather than looking at the specifics within each situation which of course are crucial but cannot be addressed in this post, I would like to give a series of key coaching questions that anyone in the above situations can use on themselves to help them make the best decision possible:

Question 1: If I continue with what I am doing now, where I am doing it and the way I am doing it ....in what situation can I see myself being in 5 years time? 

Question 2: (Imagine) I am actually in that situation in 5 years time. Do I have any traces of regret and if so what would I wish I had done differently?

Now although nobody is a prophet we must hold ourselves responsible to use our best judgement to predict a course or direction that we are choosing to take. And yes... choosing not to do anything is still choosing. 

Our natural move is generally towards the path of least resistance. As a result, many employees are coasting in jobs which are not in any way fulfilling even near their maximum potential for growth in skills, creative productivity and financial reward. The lure of a chilled office environment may feel like exactly what we want in many situations however what is pleasurable now is not necessarily bringing us happiness. 

There is a great distinction between pleasure and happiness. Pleasure is generally a short lived experience, catering to our need for instant gratification. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with pleasure, it is a beautiful part of life however it can be a distraction from doing what will truly make us happy and fulfilled.

The human brain is like an archaeological digging site. The deeper down you go the further back in time you go... all the way back to our amphibian brain in the basal ganglia. This animal brain loves pleasure and reacts sharply to fear and pain. It loves to do what will keep us safe and stimulated NOW. It cannot think 5 years down the road. 

The questions above switch your thinking to the frontal cortex which is an area which is uniquely developed in human beings. This part allows us to make decisions which will cause us long term happiness simply by cheating.... yes! cheating!!! It helps us cheat in the game of life because it allows us to imagine ourselves a few steps ahead of where we are now, considering the consequences along the way. It even allows us to access the emotion we will feel at that point in the future to double check that this is what we really want to aim for.

Ultimately the decision is still purely going to be based in emotion. The frontal cortex allows us to actually experience the emotion of ourselves in 1 day or 1 year from now as we perceive it. This is a powerful use of emotional intelligence and is the reason that people with strong emotional intelligence (those who ask the kind of questions above on a regular basis) have been shown to earn $28,000 more on average than those who depend more on the fear/pleasure responses of the amphibian brain. 

This method literally saves lives. Not only has this helped my client CEOs and executives make powerful and often lucrative decisions but I once used this method with a young man who was considering exacting bloody revenge on someone who had harmed him years previously! Once he experienced himself 20 years down the line in case 1 where he had done the deed and case 2 where he had not and asked the imprisoned case 2 future self whether he felt any regret while looking at the case 1 future self (happy home owner with a family)  he quickly shifted to the more productive approach of just focusing on creating success in his own life and moving on. He started using his frontal cortex to guide his decision making and in that moment became more emotionally intelligent.

While this example shows a case of great extremes the principle is the same. Use what you know about your current situation to make the best prediction of where it will take you and work back from there. It is all we can ask of ourselves no matter what the outcome and therefore ticks the self happiness box.

So, coming back to the original question... we are talking about creating a distinction within the perks of the current job between pleasure and happiness. Whether you are in a job which has a great environment but you aren't doing what you really love or you are in a job with an awful environment but you are doing what you really love don't let the amphibian brain drive your decision with promises of short term fixes of pleasure or shelter from pain. Switch to your highest thinking level, start with the end in mind and make your decision from that great vantage point.

I hope this has helped Anthony and others in a similar dilemma.

If you have a question/topic you would like me to write a post on just leave a comment below or message me.  In the meantime download  my internationally acclaimed book 'The Winning Mode - You are Inches from Your Own Success" with my compliments, it's powerful stuff!

“This book will motivate and inspire you to set bigger goals, persist longer, and achieve more than you ever thought possible.”~ Brian Tracy – Success Magazine's Top 25 Most Influential & International Bestselling Author, Million Dollar Habits