5 LESSONS I LEARNED FROM QUITTING MY JOB
“You’re lazy!”
“You’re a quitter!”
“You’re a scaredy-cat!” (you no get liver!)
“You are impatient and rash!”
“Do you even think before making decisions?”
All these negative thoughts congested my brain as I sat in my room days after sending in my resignation. I wasn’t bitter when I left, there was no major clash or disagreement between me and my boss or any of my colleagues.
Hell! It was an amazing place to be, with a great ambiance, warm relationships and respect between employees. I was tempted to never leave.
Many people on the outside saw me as a success, a growing wonder, a bright star, someone with a bright future and some even thought of me as an expert in digital marketing.
Which was all great and good except for the fact that I had a more negative disposition and experience in my career life.
I was living in a mental hell and often fell into depression, frustration, anxiety, and desperation. I felt trapped.
I’m sharing this to document my journey and growth through my career and life. I hope that these five lessons are able to help another lady or guy who is having similar issues at the start of their career.
1. Practice Before You Preach
I took a google course on digital marketing right after youth service and in less than 3 months I got a job at an African movie distribution company.
I didn’t practice digital marketing so when I got my first gig as a full-time digital marketer, I was handling so many projects with such basic knowledge and no practice.
I ended up making some blatant mistakes that cost the company some precious dollars, not good! I learned that before going out to preach about my skills and knowledge, I must have practiced, made mistakes and learned from the experience.
2. Results Boost Confidence
I can’t count the number of times my boss told me to do something in a certain way I didn’t quite agree with and because I had little data or facts to counter, I ended up following along even if it was a not-so-great idea and it made me feel worse when it turned out poor.
I couldn’t speak out about some decisions, consequences or predictions because I hadn’t seen them in action.
When you produce results good or bad, it makes you wiser. It gives you a clear perspective on what made it good or bad it boost your confidence when sharing your ideas and stories.
3. Make The Right Connections Always
This cannot be overstressed.
When you are connected to the right people who are rich in experience, empathy and wealth; it breeds tons of benefits.
You get to learn new perspectives from successes, you get opportunities, good advice, and positive vibes all around you.
Knowing you have people you can bank on also gives you more confidence in your career. You also need to have something of value to offer or share. Nobody likes a parasite or a leech, trust me!
4. Be A Badass Negotiator
After I resigned, the next vacancy for the role had a much higher pay with an intern to assist. This left me a bit sour because I realized that I had been undervalued and underpaid.
I took the responsibility for not negotiating well before accepting the role because back then I was desperate for a job plus I wasn’t very confident in my skills but I wanted to learn and challenge myself.
When you have invested so much in your education, practiced and built a portfolio of successful projects; when it’s time to negotiate you won’t be a chicken, you’d be a badass negotiator because you know your worth.
Very important! Learn how to secure the most attractive deal for yourself.
5. Be True To Yourself
I was struggling because I knew I had missed a few vital steps in my journey. I knew I had a problem. I knew my pay was pitiful. I knew my skill set needed sharpening. I hated losing money through poor decisions. I knew I wanted to be better and I knew the root of the problem.
I got many advice to stay in the job, tough it out, get the money, find a better job before leaving but I decided to press pause. I knew the truth that I needed to solve the problem from the roots or risk living an unfulfilled life at the expense of other people’s approval.
I took the road less traveled and I am determined to be successful at being a better version of myself that I can be proud of any time.
I know it’s not all going to be a bed of roses and that’s why I’m inspired to go through the fire and come out as refined gold.
I hope you were able to grasp one or two points from my story. Believe me, it wasn’t easy to write this all down but it is part of my growth journey.
Thanks for reading this far. Do you have stories and lessons from your previous jobs we can learn from?
I’d love for us to have that conversation, send me an email at marketingoodness7@gmail.com or drop a comment here for others to learn from.
Cheers
