What do you want?

That question is vague and general—on purpose. Think about this for a minute.

What do you want?

When my friend and I were having a quarter-life crises we were worried about ending up like we’ve seen many people—unhappy.

We started talking about specific people we’ve interacted with that seem not happy with their lives and we came to a conclusion—they settled.

At the time, I had just started working at an investment firm and after talking to some of the other employees, became paranoid of an unhappy future. (For some reason, people open up to me).

One lady had been at the firm for many years and had wanted to do something new and different, but she settled and plans to continuing doing so, because she’s “comfortable.” Her reasoning: “This job pays well, it’s easy work and the benefits are good—by all means I should stay here, right?”

Another co-worker—nice guy, very funny—always seemed a little sad. He married his college sweetheart because she gave him an ultimatum. He doesn’t want to deal with a messy divorce, so—he’s settling.

I felt my energy draining every day I walked into the office. I was being pulled down by the unhappiness in the air so—I quit.

The money was good, the commute was amazing (the office was a half mile from my apartment), set schedule, excellent benefits, but it wasn’t where I wanted to be.

I decided I was not going to settle for a job that didn’t make me happy, no matter “how good” the job was.

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” ~  Earl Nightingale

It’s that simple. Don’t settle. If you aren’t where you want to be, then leave.

 

 

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Author: Catherine Thom

Editor: Ashleigh Hitchcock

Photo: flickr