"How is life? Well, going on..": Why you should NOT quit your job, but GRADUATE from it.

Let me make something clear first.

It is not necessary for everyone to "quit their job" and become an entrepreneur.

While entrepreneurship has become THE thing to do these days, not everyone needs to or wants to do it. At any given point in time, the number of people working in regular jobs will be more than the number of entrepreneurs or self employed professionals (in the organized sectors) - atleast as of now. That might change in future, and it is a different discussion.

Having said that..

I am writing this article for those who are aware that they have reached a saturation point in their careers, and heart of heart know that they are dragging their feet to work.

They know that their next path is either to start a new career, work on their own, or start a business. But..

Quitting a job is never easy, even for the bravest ones

You are not sure of whether you will be just as successful, how long it will take you to atleast replace your regular salary. The biggest fear, that people don't articulate sometimes is also loss of identity.

Saying "I am a freelancer"

v/s

"I am a Senior Manager at IBM"

are two different things.

In life, we hardly develop an identity beyond our place of work. No doubt people feel completely lost and scared about quitting a job.

It is a fear of

"what will people think about me?"

But the thought of quitting a job NEED NOT be so intimidating, if we orient ourselves rightly.

Our fears of quitting are based on certain myths we live with.

Myth #1: We are supposed to have a job till retirement

This notion comes from our previous generation, when it WAS indeed a reality. But that is no longer the case. Just look around. With the changes in technology, we don't know which jobs will remain for human beings. The only thing we do know for sure is, there will be redundancies. New jobs might be created - but will they be within the capability perimeter of the same people who are redundant? That, we do not know. I have put forth this question in my blog "If robots will do everything, what will humans do:": Why AI Rhetoric deeply worries me.

We need to let go of this notion that one single career is going to last till retirement. We need to re-skill ourselves several times over, and be prepared to start at square one, if required.

Now if, neither jobs nor careers are meant to last forever BY DESIGN, why feel scared quitting it, when the right time comes?

Myth #2: The shift from regular-job to self-employed is one way street and permanent

Someone once told me, "Retreat is also a strategy".

He was referring to situations when an entrepreneur tries his hand at entrepreneurship and has to go back to a regular job for some more time. The good thing is "working on your own" or "starting your own business" is more widely known and accepted in today's market. I know tons of people who tried their hands at entrepreneurship, and went back to an even more fulfilling regular job/career.

Hence, the movement from a regular job towards entrepreneurship is neither permanent nor one-way. It is possible to move from a job to entrepreneurship and back. Everyone understands that not all businesses might be successful rightaway, but there are valuable lessons to be learnt.

Business lessons apart, entrepreneurship teaches you accountability in way a no regular job ever can.

Having to play your best game, with no one watching over you, is a life experience that only working on your own can teach you

So when you know, you are not necessarily closing all doors behind you, why worry about trying to explore the other side of the pasture, when your heart yearns to?

Myth #3: A regular job is a secure option for life

Many of us will know atleast one person, within our 3-degrees of connections, who got laid off from his job, due to restructuring, scaling down or similar reasons, in the recent times.

What is happening today is not an aberration, but just the beginning of a phenomenon that we can expect to last for long. People will continue to lose jobs, due to rapid changes in technology, which might wipe out industries overnight.

What is also important to note that this may be independent of your level of performance, which B-school you went to, how many years you have worked in the same organization.

People will get laid off due to being in the wrong industry at the wrong time, more than any other reason.

So being at a regular job, no longer means you are secure.

Secure will be those people, who can forsee things coming, respond fast and keep moving with times.

If you are not secure anyway, then why suffer being at a place you have stopped adding to your skills, and why not try doing something which maybe LESS secure - but is only AS INSECURE AS your regular job, even if you thought otherwise.

What if we were to take a completely different point-of-view to this whole "quitting job" business?

Do we go to school and college forever?

Then why go to an office forever? Who set this rule? And why should you follow it?

Why can't we see the regular jobs as a phase, where we earn a living and explore ourselves personally and professionally?

And having developed a certain level of understanding of ourselves, why can't we once again take an informed decision of where we want to go from here?

What good is it, you reaching the top of a ladder, which is standing against the wrong wall?

Why do we have to see this as quitting one's job - and not see it as GRADUATING from it, to move to the next phase of exploration, experimentation and experience of life?

It is not just about using a different vocabulary.

It is about employing a different mindset.

When you think of it in terms of quitting your job - you feel guilty and fearful. It often drives you to not take action, when you know you should. You will second-guess yourself all the time.

But when you see it as graduating from your job - you see it as a natural progression, and approach it with a sense of wonder, curiosity and adventure. You will be grateful for your job - the ones you are moving on from - instead of feeling bitter. And, you will then be able to immerse yourself in the new experience.

We ask each other "so, how is life", as a rhetoric question. But I have found the responses we give to it, are very telling of our state of life. Why is it that we answer the question sometimes as...

"Great.." in a way that sounds really great

"Good.." in a way that sounds merely good

"Good.." with a smile which says you should now read between the lines

"Okay.." in a way that you are putting up a brave face

"Okay okay..." in a way that a single okay will not explain things

"Going on..." in a way that there is no good answer that question anymore

I think we all should pay attention to how we are answering that question when asked.

Steve Jobs, said in his famous Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish Stanford speech..

"...For the past 33 years I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today.”

And whenever the answer has been, “no” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

I think it the same if you have been saying "going on.." for too long.

Maybe it is an indication, that time has come for you to graduate from your regular job, and explore a different way of experiencing life.

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(Disclaimer: No part of this blog maybe copied or reproduced or reused or republished in any way, except to share either using the share feature of LinkedIn or posting a direct link to this blog - An excerpt from the blog may be quoted while sharing it in the above mentioned manner. Any other form of reuse, must be only after explicit written consent of the author)

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Swati Jena is a writer and entrepreneur. While she writes on a wide variety of subjects, her favorite topics are leadership, culture, artificial intelligence, education and 'self'.

Swati is the founder of GhostWritersWorld (LinkedIn Page)/(website)/(Twitter)

Her other articles include:

Technology & product

1. "If Robots will do everything, what will humans do": Why AI Rhetoric deeply worries me
2. "Justice delayed is justice denied": Could AI and Data Science be the answer to India's judicial backlog?
3. Flirt with your product ideas, don't fall in love
4. LOL ... driverless cars for India??: When AI meets Cows, Rajinikanth and Ganpati
5. Love in the time of Artificial Intelligence: Valentine's Day 2030
6. "Who pays the price?": Why PRODUCT INNOVATION without SERVICE EXCELLENCE hurts customers - the ETHICS of product innovation

Leadership and Organization

1. "If you are nothing without the suit, you don't deserve it": 3 cardinal tests for anyone who calls himself leader
2. 3 unforgettable lessons I learnt from an Indian Ed Tech Leader
3. "Oh! You are sensitive": Why sensitive is a TABOO word - and LEADERS should consciously HIRE such people in teams
4. "I love solving problems": The BIG problem with problem solving
5. "So why are you leaving?": Don't treat retention discussions like a ONE TIME date
6. Sophisticated-fear-based-management: 3 unmistakable signs
7. Interns or cheap labor? Making internship count
8. "Travis may be Uber, but Uber cannot be Travis: The curious case of Charismatic leaders"

Diversity and Inclusion

1. "Women can't code because of Biology: 3 reasons it was a BIG MISTAKE for google to fire James Damore (perspectives of a feminist)
2. 3 taboo questions Millennials are asking, leaving hiring managers shocked
3. Why the 'Corporate-style Women's Day Celebrations' gives me the creeps
4. The OOUCH of maternity leaves: Why managers secretly dread it
5. Man or Woman? Who should lead gender diversity? Why we are simply asking the WRONG question.
6. "She has good figure": Why creating a safe place to work takes much more than just sexual harrassment policy

Self-help

1."But I have bills to pay..": Why the PREMISE we build our life on, DECIDES how far we will go..

2. The Monkey Catcher's Lesson: Why we get stuck in our jobs, situations, emotions..

3. "Anger is remembered pain": 3 steps to healing from difficult experiences at workplace

4. "How is life? Well, going on..": Why you should NOT quit your job, but GRADUATE from it

5. A "50-over-50" list: Pressures of adults "growing up" in a world of over-achieving youngsters

6. The (difficult) art of doing nothing and why it matters in a world proud of "busy"

7. 500 Uber rides without driver talking on the phone: My personal starfish story

8. "Here is a muffin that will make you successful": The unspoken truth about success

9. 5 reasons we should "stop fighting" for a cause

10. "You are hiding something": 4 reasons we find it difficult to trust those we love

Education

1. The Yin and Yang of Ed-Tech: Will schools even survive the next 10 years?
2. Why we "grown-ups" are the biggest reason the education system must change urgently
3. "No chair for teacher": Is it time we do away with this regressive and myopic policies