The Science of Aging Well: How Your Beliefs Affect Your Health
When is it quitting time? Is it when you can’t remember the last great day at work? Is it when you start to fantasize about walking out and never coming back? Or is it when you believe you would be physically and mentally healthier at another company?
It can be a difficult decision to determine when to quit your job. Therefore, we provide some of the tell-tale signs it may be quitting time.
Your Boss Manages Her Boss, Not Her Direct Reports
It seems that all your effort goes to propping up your boss and making her look good in the eyes of her boss. It is almost as if she forgets that one of her main responsibilities is helping those who report to her succeed.
A great boss and a good leader (hopefully one and the same) knows full well that when her team succeeds she will be judged a success. You do not “punch in” to work each day to help your boss advance her career.
And you are sick of it.
Public Criticism isn’t Considered a Taboo
Everyone needs constructive criticism. Occasionally, certain of us also need a bit of motivation or corrective action. We all need the experience and knowledge of superiors to provide tips and tricks of the trade.
But no one needs a public lashing. If you have ever been the target of one, you likely thought at that moment that quitting time has arrived.
For whatever reason—a boss can’t contain himself, believes in public punishment, or has a upside-down understanding of motivation—criticism is always received better when it is shared with a sense of privacy and decorum.
You Think You Can’t Do Anything Other Than What You Are Doing
You define your own destiny. So if you think the above thought, this may be quitting time. But watch out for the following self-doubts:
I make great money here.
Maybe I won’t find a related career.
But I have put too much of myself into this career.
These things are true if you let them be true. You would be surprised how many other things you could excel in. Bet on yourself. Life is awfully short to think so narrowly of yourself. Take a chance. Live a better life.
Every Morning You Think about Calling in Sick
You don’t have to call in sick, you just have to think it—all the time. There is nothing worse than waking up and dreading the day. When others think of possibilities that lie ahead, you think about ways to hide.
This is a definite indicator that something with your job has gone terribly wrong and quitting time may be at hand.
If your flight is cancelled and you can’t go out of town on a business trip like you were supposed to do, you’ll say “I won’t go into the office – they’re not expecting me. I’ll stay home and sleep.” That’s a sign that your job is not a good fit for you anymore. If any excuse to ditch your desk looks like a good excuse, you’re not doing yourself any favors by sticking around at the job any longer.
You Have Stopped Learning
Once you stop learning, you have stopped challenging yourself. Work is about perfecting your core skills while continuing to add to your arsenal of specialties. This “problem” can be aided by asking for more responsibility. The true problem occurs when you ask for more and it is either refused or does not exist. Either way, this is a sign that your company is not seeking to invest in your career.
There Is a Continual Stream through the Exits
Did you quickly become one of the more experienced workers in your department? Did you just become close with a co-worker and she is leaving? Are co-workers taking time to update resumes and search the classifieds?
When you become aware of an inordinate amount of unhappy employees (especially the greatest producers), this can indicate there are better options out there. You never know when the “exit bug” will bite you.
Listen to Your Gut
We are gifted with intuition. Whether this intuition manifests itself as a little voice or a feeling deep in our gut, we need to listen to it. Much more often than not, it guides us to the right decision. And if the decision is it is time to quit, you will likely wonder afterwards why you didn’t listen to your intuition long ago.
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