How to Quit Your Job When You Desperately Want to Leave

“I’m excited about a new business opportunity. I might be able to finally quit my job.”

I saw a friend post this status on Facebook. I was a bit intrigued but I wanted to wait until I saw them in person to get the details about how they were going to quit their job. When I finally met up with him I was beyond surprised with what he had to say. He paid $500 to enter a multi-level marketing company so that he could quit his job.

I want to show you how to quit your job. If you hate your job, you need to keep on reading. This isn’t another useless article about quitting your job to “follow your passions” because I know you have bills to pay.

“Desperation is a necessary ingredient to learning anything, or creating anything. Period. If you ain’t desperate at some point, you ain’t interesting.” — Jim Carrey

“I hate my job. FML. I can’t stand my boss.”

Every single person on social media seems to hate their jobs. Okay that’s a slight exaggeration, but you can’t scroll through a few posts without reading a complaint from someone about how they hate their boss or how they want to quit their jobs.

Then you might find a few self-employed people who can’t stop bragging about how they love life.

Chances are that you’re just a normal person who’s fed up with their job. You don’t want to post motivational quotes, sell detox tea, or follow your passions. You just want out of a job that you hate because it’s bringing you down in life. You want to quit your job. You want to move on with your life. You want to move on to a better job that fulfills you more. I hear you.

I recently hosted a karaoke night. The next morning we had a toast to a cousin who was officially offered a new job first thing on Sunday morning. He shared some interesting insights about quitting your job that helped me write this article. I don’t want you feel like you’re alone if you hate your job.

What can you do if you hate your work and want to quit your job right now?

There are two steps that you must follow if you hate your job and are looking for ways on how to quit your job right now:

1. Stop complaining.
2. Make a game plan so that you can leave to completely improve your situation.

I know that this sounds simple. It’s all you can really do right now. I’m going to break these two points down into great detail. Before we go any further, it’s important that you stop blaming the world for your problems and that you accept that everything can be changed if you want to quit your job right now.

How do you stop complaining when you want to quit your job?

“Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called everybody, and they meet at the bar.” — Drew Carey

It’s only natural to want to vent. It’s so much fun to share a meme or to bash your boss. Everyone else you see is doing it. That’s the easy way out and I know that you’re still reading because you want a real solution.

I just don’t want to see you lose on great opportunities in the future because you were too busy ranting online about how much you hate your job.

My cousin brought up an interesting point. He mentioned that no matter how you feel at work, you must remember that there’s always someone watching. Not just your co-workers. Folks on the outside can see what you’re doing. All you can do is make the best of the situation.

Think about this when it comes to quitting your job:

• Would you date someone who spent their last relationship bashing their partner publicly?
• Would you hire someone who never says anything positive about an employer?
• Do you want a negative person on your staff?

The obvious answer to all of those is no. Future employers are all around you. You seriously never know where a job offer will come from. My cousin landed a new job that he didn’t even apply for. He was offered an interview because the other company heard about the great work that he was doing under the poor conditions that he was in.

All you can do is make the best of your situation while you start looking for other jobs as you plan to quit your current job.

How do you make a game plan quit your job and to move on?

Now that you’re not going to complain anymore, it’s time to make a game plan to quit that job and to move forward in life. Let’s get started!

Stop escaping.

I don’t want to preach because I know what it’s like to want to escape after a crappy day at work. I’m not going to tell you that you should stop drinking with your friends, but there’s no benefit in escaping daily. The easy option is to escape after work. I know you’re better than that.

If you want to quit your job, you can’t get caught up in binge drinking, video games, and other vices. Your reward for staying focused on your game plan will be an escape from this job that you loathe.

Escaping only delays the process. You don’t want to stay at that job any longer than you have to. The sooner that you start looking for new jobs, the sooner that you can quit your job.

Figure out what’s holding you back.

What’s holding you back from quitting your job? Why are you stuck at this job that you hate so much?

A couple of ideas that come to mind outside of your job:

• You’re in a toxic relationship.
• You’re not taking care of your health.
• You’re spending more money than you’re making, which is putting you deep into debt.
• You’re not applying for other gigs.

There’s no easy fix to any of these. I just want you to pinpoint what’s holding you back. One of my good friend is stuck at his job for the next year because he still has about $8,000 of debt to pay off. He knows that once this debt is paid off, he can live off his freelancing income.

It’s not always your job that’s the problem. There could be external factors hurting you. Figure out what it is and work on it as you follow the next point.

Start looking for other jobs right now if you want to quit your job.

This is mandatory. Start looking for other jobs right away. Polish up your resume. Get a friend to review it for you. Pay someone to fix it up. Start asking around. Send your resume out. Start applying. There are thousands of articles out there on how-to craft the perfect resume.

The best time to find a job is when you already have one. You don’t want to get fired and then be stuck with the first offer that comes your way.

Try to make money on the side.

I know that it sucks to have to work after work, but you’re never going to get out of your current situation if you don’t make drastic changes. Things won’t just magically improve. Nobody will come to save you. You have to be ruthlessly productive with your free time if you currently hate your job.

There are three quick solutions if you want to make more money:

You can start your own online business, consider getting into freelancing or find a part-time job at the local coffee shop. These alone lend themselves to detailed articles, but they’re worth thinking about.

According to Forbes:

“A growing number of Americans are working from home.  Whether they are self-employed entrepreneurs running small accounting services, or telecommuting for multinational consulting firms, some 30 million of us work from a home office at least once a week.”

I know that this is easier said done, but others have done this before you. Our buddy Matt quit his job to make tables for a living. There are many possibilities out there if you’re willing to try.

I’m not saying that you have to create the next Facebook, but a side income will help you save up, pay down that debt, and it will give you a little cushion in case you have to quit before you land something new.

It’s not the end of the world if you hate your job right now. You don’t have to think that you’re trapped forever. You can quit your job. It’s going to take some planning. It’s going to take some effort. You’re going to get out.

“If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn’t have a job if he was any smarter.” — John Gotti