Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 3 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Resign your job every year
— From Born For This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do by Chris Guillebeau (Here’s a book review I wrote and here’s my interview with Chris at the New York Public Library.)
In Born For This, Chris Guillebeau shares a very interesting exercise to make sure that we can choose and follow our desired path with confidence. Here it is, verbatim:
When you’re stuck in a rut or simply not sure if your current job is the best choice, here’s an idea: once a year, on the date of your choosing, decide for yourself that it’s time to quit. You can do this literally or theoretically. Every year, commit to yourself that you’ll choose to break out of prison and do something different unless staying the course is truly the best way forward.
You can also do this is you’re going to school. Every year, decide to drop out unless continuing the program is the best option. As much as possible, ignore sunk costs. If you’ve been doing a six-year Ph.D. program and have two years invested before you realize it’s making you miserable, does it matter? Not really. Consider the next four years of your life, not the previous investment that brought you this far.
Whether quitting your job, your school program, or something else, here’s a draft statement you can use to make your commitment:
Every year on [date], I will resign from my job. I’ll evaluate if it’s the best possible option for me to continue with another year. If it is, I can proceed with confidence and give it my all. If not, I’ll immediately start looking for something better.
If you end up sticking with your current job because you love it, great! If not, it’s time to get out of Alcatraz. Either way, now you’ve made a conscious decision and can proceed with confidence.
What I love about this approach is that it reminds us that there are always options. Further, it enables us to determine whether the path we are on is indeed the one we want to continue on. If it is, then that’s fantastic, and by virtue of deciding that we want to continue with what we are doing, we have renewed energy, enthusiasm and commitment.
If we determine that it is not the path in which we want to continue, that is equally valuable, because that will help us look for alternatives.
And the idea doesn’t just apply to business or school, I’d take it one step further and apply it to all our activities: Do we still want to continue involved in that non-profit or is it time for a change? Do we still want to continue taking yoga and pilates or is it time to change to swimming, crossfit or ballet? Is it time to take photography classess instead of oil painting?
By analyzing our involvement in our activities we will be able to figure out what is best for us now, apply selective quitting, and thus move forward confidently having made a conscious decision.
ACTION
TODAY: Determine the date when you are going to figuratively “quit.” Then make some time in your calendar to think about the pros and cons. Make a conscious choice about moving forward in your current path or in a different one and determine next steps.
FUTURE: Make time in your calendar to analyze whether you want to continue with the activities in which you are currently involved. Make a list of pros and cons and make a decision. Once that decision is made you’ll be able to move forward with ease.
Know someone who needs to resign his/her job or activities once a year? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!