Reasons for Quitting a Job

The 5 conventional reasons and a mid-life motivator

The reasons for quitting a job are many.

But in the entire array of motivations for leaving a job, the number one is probably…

…that you find yourself reading a webpage about the reasons for quitting a job.

Okay,

That was cringeworthy.

Moving on…

There’s a reason why it’s important to understand the motivations that cause people to leave a work opportunity.

When we understand what has led others to close a chapter in their career and if we understand what has led others to pull the plug on a career path, it helps us to grasp the humble starting conditions that allows for transformative change.

If we don’t understand what motivates others to shift jobs and empower their life, we can get caught in second guessing what we should do in our own.

But, when we know there’s other people that have walked the same journey before us, it helps us to know we can do the same.

There are some conventional reasons for quitting a job, and there's another less considered one.

The Top 5 Conventional Reasons for Quitting a Job

Another opportunity:

We leave a job when we have another work arrangement lined up. A new opportunity has arisen that perhaps offers increased pay, new challenges, room for growth. An all-around new venture.

This is probably the least disruptive and pain free of all the leaving a job scenarios.

Burnout:

It’s common to leave a job due to burnout at work. Burnout is a physical, mental and emotional state that leaves you weary and depleted. Prolonged and chronic burnout can create the necessity for professional change.

Escaping burnout at work can be a tricky scenario. We often think that it’s simply a matter of leaving the work arrangement that was causing this state. It can be more challenging than this.

Often our efforts to fix burnout often come from the same place that create it. In attempting to fix it you can perpetuate it. As you leave a job, you must not only escape burnout but build the knowledge to prevent its re-occurrence. In building the skillset and resources to better manage work burnout, you will create renewed hope in your next work venture.

Toxic work environment:

A bad environment can sour your passion for your life’s work. When the realm of your work life, the people and the conditions negatively impact who you are, you may feel the need to escape.

By making the intentional decision to leave a toxic work environment, you can construct the awareness to understand what a positive work environment looks like.

Stagnancy:

A job becomes stagnant when there’s no “next step.” There’s no opportunity for promotions, increased wages, new challenges and continued growth. If you find yourself continuously trying to engage and motivate yourself but it just feels forced, you might be stagnant in your career.

If you’re stagnant within a job, making the active decision to leave can be a renewed opportunity to flourish elsewhere. There is likely another work environment that would have a greater need for your skillset.

Quitting for non employment:

There are situations where we quit a job for reasons that won’t require immediate or future employment. People retire, take work sabbaticals, do extended travel and/or start businesses. These can be very empowering and rewarding reasons to leave a job. These are scenarios where quitting a job is the ending of a chapter in life and the start to a new one.

This is something to consider if you’re ready to shift career paths and wanting to leave your job, but you’re stuck on contemplating your next work venture. Is there a possible outside-the-box option in your future. Could you sell your home, move to South Asia and start a remote business?

Crazy?

Maybe. But think of the possibilities.

The Mid-life Motivator

Of all the reasons for quitting a job, I call this the mid-life motivator.

As life progresses, we begin to contemplate the temporary nature of life. It’s just a natural and inevitable part of the human experience. In doing this, we realize that opportunities don’t last forever. Different career options and paths can’t be acted upon forever.

The mid-life motivator is something you typically see with people in their 30s and 40s. Often when they’ve been at a job for at least a few years. They’re not completely dissatisfied. They have a good job, things are comfortable, but life just seems to be passing them by.

In this situation the job can be seen as the activity that we occupy as life moves along and the years pass. When we encounter the mid-life motivator, our job has become the placeholder and scapegoat for the regrets of life. Every missed opportunity and regret become the blame of the job.

What happens is we become motivated to quit our job and rectify this. It’s common to think,

“if I can just do something more significant, meaningful and full of purpose then this will answer my existential anxiety.”

A powerful motivator

The fear of regret can be a wonderful motivator. It can allow us to take the leap on trying something new. To take a chance we’ve always wanted to. To get out of our comfort zone.

It’s easy to get caught up in a business as usual, steady ahead mind frame. However, this ride we’re all on is a temporary one. It’s about the journey and not the destination.

If the reason for quitting a job is that you just feel that there’s something else you might want to do then…

well, that might be reason enough.