Thinking of quitting?

Are you thinking about quitting? Are you depressed? You are not alone. Perhaps you can identify with this person in our story.

Sitting at a bar just looking at his drink, this man stays like that for half an hour. Then, a big trouble-making bully takes the glass from the guy and chugs it all down.

The poor man starts crying. The bully says, “Come on, man, I was just joking. I’ll buy you another drink. I can’t stand seeing a man crying.”

The crying man said, “No, it’s not that. This day is the worst of my life. First, I fall asleep late for my office. My boss fires me. My car was stolen. I got a cab to return home; then I remembered I had left my wallet and credit cards in my car. I got home, and my wife had left me. I leave home and come to this bar.

I am so depressed, I was thinking about ending my life, and then you show up and drink my poison!” This can be depressing.

Leaders took charge when COVID-19 happened in late 2019 and exerted its full force in 2020. The virus lingered and dragged on, and leaders still took charge even when the economy started to open. But many leaders are now running on empty. It is like they have been in a pressure cooker; exhaustion, anxiety, and stress have caught up with them. They need to take care of business, their teams, and take care of their family and the question one may ask is who will take care of them?

The prospect of quitting your job may be enticing. And perhaps you may be asking when would be the time for you to quit? I would not have an answer for you, but maybe the following factors may be worth considering:

1. Do not make any decision at the height of your emotional moment.

When emotions are high (or low), the reasoning part of you does not work much. Making decisions from feelings is never reliable, and many have lived to regret it.

2. Having a bad day is not the day you quit.

2020 and 2021, and even the start of 2022 is filled with bad days. What you are going through may be what you are paying for the pressures, anxieties, and challenges that have burdened your mind and heart.

3. Objectively evaluate whether the emotions are temporary or permanent.

Will exiting from my current job truly change things? Perhaps you think the situation is unique to you, but it is not. The whole world is like it is on fire. Deciding to quit and thinking this would solve your problems may create another problem that exerts even more pressure on you.

4. Are you making this quitting decision alone, or have you sought advice?

Do not decide alone. When one is under deep emotional stress, the ability to make a wise judgment goes out the window.

I am adept at giving advice, but when I am at the core and center of a difficult situation, and my emotions are running high, I need to seek advice from wise and mature leaders in the industry to get their viewpoints. And what about the sentiments and feelings of the family too? It would help if you considered all these things. Surround yourself with trustworthy and reliable people who love and care for you enough to tell you not what you want to hear but what you need to know.

5. Am I quitting, or am I just escaping?

It is an assumption that quitting would magically wipe out all your challenges. Your new place of work (if you can get one) may not be the dream company you wish for. Despite what company PR and communications said on their Linkedin pages, there is no dream job or perfect company.

One of the dumbest posts I have come across is from a self-proclaimed guru who said, “If you are not happy with your job, then quit your job. You do not deserve to be unhappy.” The cynical side of me acted up. I thought, “Dude, show me a job where you can always be happy, and I will quit my job and join you!” Reading a dumb post like this can fuel the desire to escape rather than to deal with the situation rationally.

Perhaps quitting your job is not what you need. You need a break, a vacation, and a time to recharge and regain strength and composure. But for whatever it’s worth, escaping does not work.

(Francis Kong runs his highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership 2.0 Master Class Online this Aug. 17-19. For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)