Why I Quit a Six-Figure Job, and You Should, Too!

WHAT?!?! I must be nuts, right? How could anyone walk away from that much money? I must have had it quite good. My life, surely, was amazing.

Except, it wasn’t.

Often, blogs go into depth about how toxic the work environment was. They complain about how bad the boss/manager was, or how unethical the company is. And while those things are true, this post is not about them. It’s about me.

This post is about the person I became, and how I was changing, to continue working at that job. Let's dive into our responsibilities as humans. Let's talk about our ethical choices. This is a harsh light on the things that I would, otherwise, rather keep hidden.

I entered the career path I was on quite by accident. I was wrapping up with some seasonal work and had no idea what I would be doing for the winter. I had my résumé up on a job site, hanging out there, not searching. And I received a phone call.

The person reaching out said they had a job available and asked if I would interview for the position. Since I was at loose ends, I said, “Sure. Why not? What are you offering?” And I got the job. I was shocked, but also pretty happy. It was a decent wage, I had my own office, and the benefits were pretty good.

I progressed at lightning speed, and was happy with the position. It felt like we were doing good work, and I was content with most of the ethics of the company. I felt like I had found my career path, and my future looked bright.

Fast forward about four years. I was a regional manager with the company for about two-and-a-half years, and was on a good trajectory. Because of life changes, my spouse and I had made the decision to uproot ourselves and move out of State. The Pacific Northwest was calling us back.

I spent two months writing a proposal to continue working remotely for the company. It was well-cited, with benefits for both myself and the company. They rejected the proposal. This was fine, considering that I found a job that paid me almost double what I had been making. Later, the company gave a remote work position to another employee… using my proposal! What a disappointment.

When I started the new position, I thought I had finally made it. I took a step down in responsibility (always good), and a large leap upwards in pay. They promised the opportunity to be able to “write my own ticket, and create my own job description.” And that turned out to be an over-exaggeration.

What I found, in working for that company, and within the industry, was that I was changing. I grew up a very sensitive and empathetic child. I was losing track of that with many of the demands of my career.

I became cold, jealous, hard, and worst of all, jaded. I heard so many fake sob stories that I was losing my faith in humanity. My supervisors were always on me to increase the bottom line. "Do more with less." My budget and revenue numbers were already exceeding the expectation. I was leading among my colleagues.

Because of this, I became trapped by my ego. I became suspicious. I didn’t care who I stepped on to get more money, and more power. I would apologize later, if I thought they were resentful. I was worried, stressed out, and looking over my shoulder. It’s hard to stay at the top and be visible. There’s so much attention that it’s easy to find things to pick apart and it’s hard to hide anything.

My physical and mental health were declining rapidly. I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t eating healthy, beyond what would sustain me. An overabundance of coffee and nicotine were my energy-boosting substances of choice. Yet I continued to push. The Golden Handcuffs were too attractive. I kept myself in them, though the key was in my pocket all along.

I had known yoga as a physical practice for a couple of decades. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I decided to pursue teacher training. I wanted gain a deeper understanding of the guiding principles. It was life-changing for me. I started to remember who I was, and the kind of person that I wanted to be. I realized that it wasn’t too late. I could still embrace that sensitive and empathetic child inside of me, and see them to adulthood.

And so I did. I realized that the money was far from worth the pain damage I was causing myself and my loved ones.

So I quit.

I quit without a backup plan. I did have some money in the bank, but only enough to allow me some space to remember. My only plan was to stop the hurt, and to heal. The harm is over, but the healing continues. Likely, it will leave a lifelong scar. Yet, as with most scars, there’s an excellent story and a reason for its existence.

I will touch the scar on occasion to remind myself of what I never want to become. I will use it as a cautionary tale to myself, and those that would listen.

Please, I implore you - look at the situation you find yourself in. Are you happy? Are you proud of the person you are? Are you proud of the things you do to/for others? Can you stand up in the world and announce, “This is who I am, and I love this about myself!”

If not, you might want to quit, too.