How to Quit Your Job

I have learned a lot of things in this life, mostly through experience, good or otherwise, and I've had plenty of experience quitting my job.  In fact, I've nearly perfected the art of quitting my job.  I've quit my job the 'wrong way' plenty of times, as well as the 'right way', so I'm going to pass on some of that earned wisdom so that other renaissance men (or really, anyone) can benefit from my mistakes.

It's important to understand that if you hate your job, you must quit it.  It's not really a matter of whether, but rather how and when.  If you're anything like me, and I suspect you are, renaissance man, you will probably be needing to do this about once every two or three years, on average, so it's a skill you will need to develop.  Now, don't get me wrong, if you like your job, by all means keep at it.  If you're still doing the same job ten years down the road and loving it, you may have just found your 'thing'.  You may also not be a renaissance man if you love what you're doing for ten years, but there are worse things in life than loving your job, that's for certain.  Always remember that your personal happiness and fulfillment is much more important than any job, or being or not being a renaissance man.  It's also important to note that you can continue to be a renaissance man even if you do have the same job for ten or more years, it just makes it somewhat less likely.

So, without further ado, here are some guidelines to help you quit your job:

1. Decide to Quit Your Job.  This is an important first step.  You should make the conscious decision to quit your job.  The idea may have been rolling around in your head for a while, consciously or subconsciously, but now it's time to make it official.  Maybe you are becoming less stimulated with your tasks.  Perhaps you've even become bored.  Maybe you've been feeling that the work or the company ethic goes against your core values.  Possibly your boss and/or manager is a total prick (very likely).  There comes a moment in every job, I've found, that not only has the pleasure gone out of the job, but you actually dread getting up and going to work in the morning.  It's become so tedious and/or stressful (in a bad way) and/or lame that you are seriously considering calling in sick just because you'd rather shove an ice-pick up your ass than go to work and pretend like you don't hate being there.  OK, if you've gotten to this point, you probably should have quit a while ago.  When you start feeling like you'd rather be just about anywhere than at your job, you probably should decide that it's time to work on quitting.  This is not something that happens overnight, so it's important to catch the signs early before an eruption occurs (more on that later).  The sooner you make the decision to quit your job, the sooner you will be able to quit successfully, which will add years of happiness to your life, as long as you do it correctly.
2. Decide How to Quit.  My dad, although not exactly a renaissance man, always gave me the very sage advice that you should never quit your job until you have another one lined up.  My dad was a very practical man, and not subject to the whims of the renaissance man, but this is nonetheless exceedingly good advice.  At the very least, you should be looking very carefully at what you will be doing after you quit your job.  Far too many weary and unprepared renaissance men quit their jobs in fits of rage or frustration without properly planning their next move.  This is a mistake you will recover from, but it might be painful, and could have repercussions that you had not considered fully.  For instance, if you have just been condescendingly reprimanded by your small-minded and superficial boss for the 'last time', and you've reached and gone beyond the boiling point, and you've used some language that perhaps you wouldn't have otherwise used in professional conversation, chances are that you will regret this.  Sure, it will make you feel pretty good for the short-term.  As you walk out the door, you might even feel an overwhelming satisfaction at finally letting the tiger out of the cage after keeping him pent up for so long.  But now what are you going to do?  If you're like most people, you've got bills to pay, and you probably like to eat from time to time, and now you are going to have to start a job search that could take months or longer, depending on the economic climate.  What's worse, now you won't be able to use that job as a reference on your résumé, which is going to make it even tougher for you to get hired somewhere else.  Yes, the urge to blow off your pressurized steam when you're quitting your job can be very tempting, but you should make every attempt to quit your job after proper planning, and with proper, professional notice to your employer.  You will not regret this.  
3. Decide When to Quit.  If your boss has just gotten in your face for the 'last time', here's my advice: eat it.  I realize, of course, that there will be a nearly overwhelming urge to knock him to the ground right there and crush his puny (or fat) neck. Resist that urge. Swallow that pride of yours and resolve (quietly) to settle on your next course of action. Then, 'resign' from your position only when you are calm and have your next course of action clearly mapped out.  This can be as easy as deciding that it's time to use up some of that savings to take some time off and explore the World.  Or, perhaps you've been secretly designing Lederhosen (a particular passion of yours) for the past couple of years, and you want to make a go with that Lederhosen online store.  You think the time is right for Lederhosen Online.  Or, maybe you've just been putting your résumé out there for a while and you've finally gotten that offer you were looking for.  Whatever it is, once you decide what you are going to do next, the answer when to quit becomes easy: as soon as practicably possible.  Just remember, always give proper and professional notice to your current employer.  The old addage about 'not burning bridges', although not always one hundred percent relevant, is generally good advice, nonetheless.  You will never regret quitting in the 'right way', but you may have some regret quitting in the 'wrong way' (although you'll probably get over that, too).

Being a renaissance man inherently means that you will naturally become bored with your job and want to move on eventually.  Hopefully you will be moving on to something completely new, stimulating, and exciting, and it is an opportunity to explore an entirely new field.  The important thing to remember is that it's never a good idea to stay at a job you hate just because you need the paycheck.  Earning money is important, and you will need to make money somehow (unless you are one of the lucky descendants of the [enter name of fabulously rich or royal family here]).  But, trust me, your happiness now will lead to a more fulfilled and meaningful life, not just now, but also in the long-run, even if you do need to take a pay cut from time to time to get there.  You will spend up to a third of your adult life 'working'; it is worth spending that time doing something you don't hate.  All the previous statements about proper planning aside, if it comes down to a choice of going to work today, quitting, or taking an ice-pick up the ass, go ahead and just quit.  You'll figure out the details later.

Just try not to yell at your boss like a crazy person.

       

Career Is A 4-Letter Word

I don't know about you, renaissance man, but among the four-word combinations I hate the most in this World, "What do you do?" has to be right at the top.

What do you mean, what do I do?  You mean, for fun on the weekends?

No, of course not.  You mean, what do I do for a career, right?

Blah.

It's as if the answer to this question is meant to define the wholeness of who you are - as if someone will gain a great understanding into the depths of your very being because you have just told them that you are a technical writer for a software company that produces software designed specifically to organize and track product in hardware stores.  Ohhhhhh, you're one of those types of people, huh?

Let's face it: most careers are pretty boring, at least after a while.  No kid ever dreams of becoming an inside sales consultant for a large pharmaceutical company, except for maybe the kids of those inside sales consultants.  It's not exactly what you would want to be eulogized for, right?  So, why do we, as a society, put so much weight upon this question and its generally disappointing answer?  Is it because we want to feel better about ourselves?  Because we too have had exceedingly boring careers for far too long, and it's always nice to know that other people are miserable too?

Or, could it be that we are trying to confirm that the person we are about to have a potential conversation with is worth our time?  Yes, he's cute, but does he have a good job?  And by good job, she means one that pays reasonably well and isn't Burger King.  Who cares that it's making you a boring, frustrated asshole to be around for the next thirty years, as long as you are bringing home a steady, non-embarrassing paycheck right?  At least you're 'normal'.

OK, I should state unequivocally here that I'm not against careers for everyone.  Some people should definitely have careers.  Some people are born career people, and they are happy to be so.  They answer the 'what do you do' question proudly and without any pent-up angst, regret, or remorse.  They love the fact that their life is secure and they know exactly what they are going to be doing tomorrow, and they genuinely like their job.  They lust not for something 'other' than their status quo.  And, to be honest, the World needs those people.  It just might generally suck without them (Or it could be very fun; I don't know).  But, we're not talking about those people, are we, renaissance man?  No, we're talking about you, and to you, 'career' is a 4-letter word.  

Yes, you went to college, and you did get that degree, which you paid a lot of money for, and you really wouldn't want that to go to waste, right?  I mean, ever since your sophomore year in high school you've been groomed for this 'life path', this 'one thing'.  Yes, of course you will go to college.  Yes, of course you will major in Economics and eventually get your MBA.  Of course you will climb the corporate ladder and be at 'the top of your game', making a 'comfortable' living, in twenty or thirty years, as long as you keep your head down and don't piss off the wrong people. You might even retire 'early' when you are 55 or so.

If you are squirming right now, then you know you are a renaissance man.

It is interesting to note that the etymology of the word career, from the Latin, means 'race', as in race to the finish, or perhaps, rat race?  In any case, it can feel like a race sometimes.  From the moment they put you in that chariot in your early years of high school, the drumbeat of specialization throughout the arena begins.  Yes, you will be a doctor, a lawyer, a corporate manager.  Perhaps even a 'career counselor'.

In any case, I don't need to tell you that this is not for you because you already know this!  So, the idea here is to recognize this and own it.  Let go of the guilt and the pressure to become the average drone.  Let go of the feelings of dread when you look at the next twenty years of riding an office chair (or whatever).  There are other options, as difficult as they are to see sometimes.  Start planning your escape now.  You will need to plan carefully.  Try to contain your impulse to drop everything and run.  You've got plenty of time.  Relax.... relax.... relax....

It is some comfort to know that the 'career' idea, at least in the way that we have come to know it, is a fairly recent phenomenon.  The word was once much more all-encompassing, meaning something like 'all of that which you do productively throughout your life', which could even encompass your unpaid passions and schooling.  It has only relatively recently (within the last fifty or sixty years), and only in certain cultures, been narrowed down to this singularly specialized notion of 'the one job which you will have from now until you retire'.  Considering this, the notion of career historically was very probably something much more generalist in nature, and perhaps even polymathic.  Something the renaissance man could probably get with.

It should come as no surprise to you that I would be promoting the historical notion of career over the modern one.  Your career, renaissance man, should take many and varied forms.  You should have many, many careers.  I would even go so far as to tell you that you should be thinking about your next career as soon as you start your current one.  It might just take that much planning.  Obviously, there are financial and family considerations to be made.  Whether you like it or not, you will probably need to make at least a little bit of money doing something.  If you switch careers, it might mean taking a substantial pay cut, moving someplace else entirely, and perhaps even going back to school (or going to school if you haven't).

I'm not talking here about quitting your job and taking that trip around the World you've been dreaming about (that's for another post).  Rather, this is about the deep and thorough 'learning' of an entirely new trade.  Something that, once learned, will be a valuable arrow in your quiver of life.  Not only does this give you a greater depth of overall knowledge, allowing you to cross-pollinate your ideas to every part of your current life, but it also adds valuable diversification to your 'worth' portfolio.

Think about it: say you are a plumber.  You have spent many years apprenticing and eventually licensing yourself as a journeyman or even master plumber.  You are making pretty decent money, but you are getting the itch to try something new.  So, you begin taking evening computer science classes because you kind of like that field and are interested in learning something about it, anyway (let's pretend this is 1999).  Eventually, when the software companies are so desperate they'll hire anybody because the economy's on full-tilt, you land yourself an entry-level programming job.  Sure, it doesn't pay as well as plumbing, but then again, you're not changing out toilets anymore either.  Time to go back to mac n' cheese from the box for a while.  Soon enough, management recognizes that you are wonderfully diverse and able to think outside the mac n' cheese box, and it's showing up in your work, so you've earned yourself a raise.  Now things aren't quite as bad; you're making almost as much as you did while plumbing, you're happier because you aren't totally burnt out on it yet, and at the end of the day you're still pretty clean.

Next thing you know, the tech sector tanks along with the company you're working for, and you're out of a job.  Blammo!  No one is hiring programmers.  However, you've got an old co-worker buddy who's doing some plumbing for this contractor that's not so bad and they're looking.  So, you take the job.  You're getting your hands dirty again.  And you know what?  It doesn't feel half bad.  It feels pretty good to get out on the jobsite again and thread some pipe and work those muscles for a change.  You'd actually forgotten how not-bad it really is, actually.  Plus, it's nice to be getting a paycheck while all your specialist programmer peers are running out of unemployment, right?  Maybe you'll go for that mechanical engineering degree next.

You see what I mean?  It is a good thing to have more than one career, renaissance man.  It does not mean that you will be less 'valuable' over time.  In fact, it means the opposite.  Go ahead and take that job at that engineering firm in a few years, and see how much they appreciate your background in plumbing and in programming (trust me, they will).  It is not necessary to think that if you give up on specialization, you are giving up on being 'successful'.

And, as you already know, financial success is minor compared to your overall happiness, which you really can't put an income on, renaissance man.