I Quit! 4 Telltale Signs Your Job Is No Longer A Good Fit For You

Everything pales in comparison to setting your office on fire when you’re looking to scream, “I’m done!”

Fortunately, there are laws that bar people from recreating such epic resignations from their jobs.

Yet, the sentiment of desperately wanting your disdain to be heard, perhaps even force-fed, remains very much alive in many people’s hearts. Why is this?

Well, the answer isn’t simply because you dislike your job. Regardless of how you feel day in and out, you have to constantly remind yourself of the bigger picture.

If you’re feeling too stressed, it could be because that line of work isn’t for you, though it’s possible you simply bit off more than you could chew.

If you’re falling asleep every day, it's probably because of a lack of interest or challenge (or it could also just be the caffeine withdrawal).

In either case, you must keep a certain element of self-reflection afloat in order to determine whether your current position is professionally and emotionally fulfilling.

You may think this is strange. Usually, in the corporate world, people do not tend to take their feelings into account.

Doing so seems contradictory toward various vague goals and ambitions. I mean, people have to fight for what they want and push through the stress and the bullsh*t in order to reach that pedestaled, nondescript place of happiness and success. Right?

Well, if you really think about it, it's the oddballs — like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett — who seem to be remembered for their maverick-like maneuvering throughout their careers.

The commonality these people share is that at some point in their lives, they refused to be complacent.

Whether at a job or a career-starting position, they chose to pave their own way and figure out a life that worked for them.

And at some point, they quit whatever job they felt wasn’t working for them.

So, how does one know when to move on? How are you to be sure your choice to (metaphorically speaking) burn down your current office is really the right move to make?

Do you feel challenged, or do you feel stressed?

Often, people misinterpret positive struggles for negative ones. Whereas some stress builds character and intelligence, negative stress causes a fissure in the psyche, eventually creating poisonous resentment toward your workplace, your coworkers and even yourself.

The trick to determine stress versus challenge is to simply reflect upon your time at work.

Do you wake up dreading the day ahead of you, or are you excited for the coming tasks?

It's ridiculous how easy this thought process should be. Do you like what you’re doing, despite the workload or the pressure to get things done? If the answer is yes, you’re being appropriately challenged.

If you answer no, you should consider digging deeper and perhaps make your management aware of your stress.

Are you learning anything valuable in respect to your career?

This one is pretty straightforward. Are the tasks you perform challenging you to learn about different aspects of your job? Do they build your skill set?

If you’re falling asleep easily, I’d bet the answer to this question is no. However, if you’re too stressed with the workload to learn anything, it's a whole other problem.

If you like your job but feel as though you’re stuck in a rut, ask your boss to throw you a more difficult task, one that will challenge your current skills and force you to learn a thing or two.

If it goes well, keep asking for more work that will continue this educational processes. Too many jobs out there fall into stagnation and disable your ability to keep growing. Don’t be another statistic.

Where will the current path lead you 10 years down the road?

This one requires a bit more foresight and imagination. If you’re considering whether or not to stay at your current position, you'll have to give yourself a reality check and ask that age-old question:

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

It's at this point that many people tend to stop thinking about whether to quit. The uncertainty of the future is a hard thing to face, so it's not surprising that many people shy away from this question.

However, if you truthfully cannot see yourself doing what you're doing now 10 years down the line, what’s the point in staying where you are?

Furthermore, if this position cannot take you down the correct path toward your ambition, it's an even bigger waste of time.

This is ultimately the way in which you should view your professional life: In an economy of time.

Does the time you put into your current position have a foreseeable payoff? Do you value what you do today? Do you think your time is worth the paycheck you are receiving?

All those billionaires I listed earlier shared one other thing: A daring spirit. They dared to go after what they wanted, even if they didn’t know precisely what that was.

Many others do this as well, often on smaller scales, which means you can, too.

If you want to be happy in your professional career — which, I would argue, is your life — you have to determine what’s worth your blood, sweat and tears.

If it isn’t worth a damn, get out now. A job eating up your valuable time and energy without reward is not even worth the security of a full-time position.

Instead, focus all your efforts on getting yourself on the correct path — the one that will lead you where you want to be 10 years from now.

Do you think Elon Musk was afraid of using his personal fortunes to start three businesses (that we know he owns) that literally nobody else in the world would dare touch with a 50-foot money pole?

Success is subjective. Set your own goals and achieve them at your own will. Remember that and you’ll achieve far more than you thought was possible.