Why I Quit My Six Figure Job (Without A New One)

Maybe this isn’t a great way to start off my blog but it’s the truth. About 3 months ago, I decided I wanted a big change in my life. I wanted to quit my job and I wanted to move to Washington DC. That was about as far as my plan went, in that order.

Quitting a job is never easy. It’s definitely not easy when you don’t really have a clue as to what you want to do next. Nonetheless, I did it anyway. I still don’t have a job yet and it’s been about a month since I quit. So let’s go over what questions I asked myself to get to my decision to quit.

Questions I asked myself

• Does this job give me the opportunity to build skills/experiences that align to my 10 year goal?

• Does this job/organization align with my personal values?

• Am I getting a good ROI on my 3 hour commute every day?

• Have I gained the skills I was originally seeking when I took this job in the first place?

• Does this job give me access to the people who hold roles that I want to be in one day?

• Am I continually learning the things I want to learn from people I want to learn from?

• Am I happy at work 60% of the time?

Each one of the above questions required me to take a deep look at myself and my situation. You’ll see the questions are a mix of short term and long term focus. You may be wondering - “How do I know what I want to do in 10 years?” “How do I figure out my personal values?” “How do you define what skills you want from a job?”. I promise, I’ll answer all of the above and more in future blog posts.

I want to answer the last question today “Am I happy at work 60% of the time?” 60% might seem low or arbitrary, but this is equivalent to 3 out of 5 days a week. Basically, most days am I looking forward to work and/or coming home in a good mood. Not every day is going to be perfect and this is my way of acknowledging this. I also don’t measure this weekly but I do take stock over the month and halfway through a year.

Ultimately, my answers to those questions led me to the conclusion that it was time for me to leave. I was in a good financial situation already and my company offered a separation package. Those things certainly helped. However, what helped more was my network and my own confidence in my abilities. A friend stepped up to let me stay with them, and I swallowed my pride and decided to stay with my mom for a bit after my east coast move. It beats paying rent.

But at the end of the day, I’ve been thinking a lot about my skills and what I bring to the table. I’ve methodically built my career and amassed different skills for this moment. Now it’s a matter of picking, what do I want go deep in? Where do I want to work? What skills do I really want to build on. Luckily, I’ve shared those tips and more with others. Time to refresh myself on them!