This post has been sitting in Draft for a little bit. I came across an interesting article in BusiessWeek that has brought me back to it.
The article, “10 Reasons Why You Have to Quit Your Job This Year,”, makes some compelling arguments. The reasons given are:
- The middle class is dead.
- You’ve been replaced.
- Corporations don’t like you.
- Money is not happiness.
- Count right now how many people can make a major decision that can ruin your life.
- Is your job satisfying your needs?
- Your retirement plan is for shit.
- Excuses.
- It’s ok to take baby steps.
- Abundance will never come from your job.
I agree with just about all them, though I’d argue that number two varies depending on your industry. Not out of the realm of possibility that we all, at some point in our lives, will be replaced.
The points that struck a cord with me were points give, six and ten. I caught myself thinking back to weighing, and listing endless pros and cons, of relocating to Vancouver for, well, I really had no idea at the time. The common phrase that was tossed around in every conversation while agonizing over this decisions was “fresh start.”
Having been in Vancouver more than a year now, and being a believer in things happening for a reason, I’ve come to realize the following: your job is irrelevant.
All ten points demonstrate that a job is a means to an end, not an end in itself and not how you define yourself.
This is a very difficult concept to grasp because we often define ourselves by our jobs. Think back to the last social event you attended. What were you asked? “Hi, and what do you do for a living?” Or some variation? Sure, it’s a conversation starter, a method of finding common ground, but it also comes to define who you are. The question is asked at every social event. We answer without thinking, without realizing the greater implications. Soon, the answer becomes who we are.
I do not want to be defined by my job. I do not want my job to define me.
I do not want to search for the latest, more acceptable way to say “unemployed” or “freelancer.” Those terms do not define me, either.
I do not want to repeat those words so they become my identity to myself, and to others.
Not defining myself by my job, or by lack of job, however, presents the following question: How do I define myself?
Or, perhaps, do I define myself? I loath being shoved into boxes, being pigeon-holed. I’m not one to do the same mundane task day in and day out. I would never have left Evergreen if I were programmed that way.
The more I’ve pondered this, the more I’ve come to realize that a reason the opportunity to relocate to Vancouver appeared is so that I can find an answer to that question. The first step is realizing, and accepting, I do not want to be defined by my job, whatever that job is now, and whatever it is in the future. The second is realizing it is broader, and deeper, than my job.
The challenge lies in unearthing other definitions. Suggestions?