5 Reasons Why I Won’t Apologize to My Wife For Quitting My Job

This man believes it’s time for men everywhere to quit a job they hate, and not apologize for it. 

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Have you ever woken up for work, and realized how much you hated your job? I knew that feeling all too well. For 12 years I worked at such a job. It was great when I started at 19 years old, but as the years struggled on, so did my misery.

Year after year I wanted to quit this job, and year after year my wife told me I wasn’t ready. In the end, she was right. After three years of planning, hustle, and blood sweat and tears, I quit that job.

I don’t need to talk to you about hating your job. Men all over the world spend day in, and day out at jobs they hate. I wrote about this not too long ago for the Good Men Project.

I could write a thousand of these posts, and it wouldn’t be enough. I could also write a thousand of these posts, and it wouldn’t set in for some men. Here’s the biggest piece of advice that has changed the way I look at life:

Life is short, and time is the only thing you’ll never get back. At the end of your life you’re not going to remember all the stuff you accumulated from working at a job you hate, you’ll remember your experiences. Choose time, and experiences, over stuff.

I quit that job, and didn’t have to apologize to my wife because she was on board when I quit. She realized these five reasons were what are best for our family.

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1. It was sucking the life out of me

I touched on this a little bit, but I hated that job with every fiber of my being. My hatred for that job created stress in my life that I took home with me everyday after work.

It killed my motivation, and zest for life. I didn’t have big goals or dreams; I was always in survival mode. I spent so much of my week miserable that it affected every other area of my life.

Guys, quitting a job you hate is easier said than done, but that doesn’t mean you should never try. That job is draining the life out of you, and keeping you from using these precious moment we have here on earth doing the things that are really important to you.

 2. It wasn’t what we wanted for our family

When we thought about how we wanted to spend our weeks, months, and years, this job didn’t fit into those plans. It wasn’t something we believed in, or had any passion for.

The world would be a lot happy place if everyone were at jobs they loved. In our minds we think that’s not possible. I call hogwash. Anything is possible, but not easy to achieve.

If enough people decided not to settle in life, things would change. Guys could find or create jobs they’re passionate about, and they wouldn’t feel like they were working. I’m tried of society just accepting that’s the way it goes. It doesn’t have to; we all have the power to do something about the status quo!

 3. She loves the freedom we now experience

I write, speak, and coach full time these days. I don’t have to be anywhere for work, I just have to have an Internet connection. We love the freedom this kind of working situation provides, we truly feel free.

A mentor taught me a very important lesson four years ago. He said that your work should fit into your life, not your life into your work. Too often, as men, we try to make things work out. We try to fit our life around a job. That’s a formula for disaster.

4. It’s opened a whole new world of opportunity

My eyes were closed for so long. After the death of my father I started to see the truth. It’s amazing what happens when your eyes are opened to one area of your life, you start to see other things around you that you may have been missing.

I self-published two eBooks that went on to sell over 82,000 copies. When the books started selling, I got confidence, and wondered what else I could do that I couldn’t even dream of before.

I wanted to speak, but I was terrified of being on stage. I got an invitation to speak in West Virginia. On the plane ride there, someone asked me why I was heading to West Virginia, I told him I was speaking at a conference. He looked at me and said, “so, you’re a speaker” that’s when it became real.

My eyes were opened even more, and I thought about how cool it would be to travel internationally to speak. Two weeks later, after some hustle, I was booked to speak in Sydney, Australia. I went to Sydney, and had a life changing experience.

The point that I’m making is that one opportunity opened my eyes to all the amazing possibilities this world has to offer. If you allow yourself to dream, your eyes will be opened, and the sky will be the limit! When you don’t open yourself up, you’ll be stuck in a little bubble.

5. Life is to short to stay miserable

This is the message that I hope you to take away from this article. I don’t want to depress you if you hate your job. I also don’t want you to head off, and quit your job tomorrow.

I want you to see your truth, and figure out what that truth means for your life, we’re all different. Life really is too short to stay miserable for 40-60 hours of your week, and there is something you can do about it.

Believe it or not, you can change the world. I realize what I said, and I don’t say it lightly. Choose yourself over being miserable. If you’re at a job you hate, start the process to getting out of there.

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I don’t need to tell you most of this stuff guys because in your heart, you already know it. Find work you’re passionate about or create it. Put a plan together to make a change.

Your job affects your life. It’s up to you to figure out whether that will be a positive or negative affect. It may take time, probably more time than you think it should, but if you take action, you can get away from a toxic situation.

The best advice I can give you is to take this one-day at a time. It’s not going to happen overnight, but if you can persevere, you will find or create work you love.

Are you at a job you hate? What would be your dream job? 

Photo: Flickr/TheeErin

The post 5 Reasons Why I Won’t Apologize to My Wife For Quitting My Job appeared first on The Good Men Project.