Over 75 Million Americans hate their jobs. This means that Over half the work force needs to check these reasons to leave a job.

According to the Conference Board Job Satisfaction Survey, 48% of Americans are satisfied with their jobs. Let’s do a double take for a second. 48% are satisfied, not even necessarily happy. Satisfied means pleased. Satisfied means that enjoyed your cheeseburger, but you know there is probably a more tasty one right around the corner. Satisfied means you should probably pay close attention to these reasons to leave a job.

Only 48% of Americans, (less than half!) are pleased with their current positions. I read that as less than half are complacent, while the other 52% are just plain unhappy.

Do you want to just be satisfied with your work life and your life in general?  Blech, of course you don’t. You want that other burger around the corner.

I am not going to show you exactly how to find the best burger in town (remember that How I Met Your Mother episode anybody?) but I am going to share why you should at least consider it. I am extremely passionate about this subject, but only because I was so blind to my own potential until I turned 25. it won’t be easy, but you can learn to embrace change, and pave a new direction for your life.

You cannot find the interplay between your passion and reality if you have resigned yourself to hating your job, or even worse, being merely satisfied with your job. If you find the right job you will be able to travel the world, and not feel stuck to 50 cent per year raises for the rest of your life.

*Two quick caveats before we start:

1. I am in no way suggesting you should quit your job today, especially if you are providing for your family. Family comes first, always, but don’t forget that YOU are part of that family. If you aren’t around because the stress levels got too high, guess who is going to suffer? If any one of these items strikes a nerve, consider your options, have a meeting with the family, and make a plan. That is what my wife and I did, are we are very happy where we are at now.
2. If you are truly happy in your job, then great, keep on doing what you love.

17 Reasons to Leave a Job (Fire Yourself Before It’s Too Late)

#1: Stressed to the Max

If your job is stressing you out, you might want to consider getting out. Stress is one of the leading causes of all kinds of different illnesses, but more than that, being stressed out is no way to live.

At the retirement community my wife and I were on call 4 nights a week, meaning we were at anyone’s beck and call throughout the night. We knew this going in, but the stress that came from not being able to get away and detach from the job was eating away at us.

if you are in a stressful job, it might be time to have a talk with your boss to reduce your workload or responsibilities, take stress leave, or better yet, send yourself packing.

#2: You Dislike Your Boss

It turns out that according to a Gallup study 50% of employees leave their job because of their boss. I don’t know about you, but that is striking to me. What it says is that 1 out of every 2 managers out there are so bad at what they do that people want to leave because of them. Ouch.

Now, I also think that a boss can become a target for your dissatisfaction with the job. You aren’t sure what else to blame so its gotta be the big bad boss right? Still, it is definitely a reason to get out of the corporate world or at the very least, find a boss that motivates you and truly cares about how you are doing.

#3: Your Co-workers Are not Good Role Models

We become the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. If you spend your time with 5 unhappy people you will become the 6th. If you spend your time with 5 positive, peppy, and passionate people you will inevitably become the 6th there too.

Where do we spend most of our time? At work. Whether you like it or not, you will start to act like your co-workers, if only in small subtle ways.

Surrounding yourself with people that care about you, will tell you the truth even if it hurts, and will lift you up when you are feeling down is one of the best things we can do for ourselves. If you are not getting that where you work, take action and change your circumstances.

#4: You Don’t Believe There are Any Other Options

This is the fallacy that corporate America, and just about anywhere for that matter, would have you believe. That you MUST be a slave to modern society. That you must start out Monday with a daily commute, fill the day with mindless work hours, and then commute home, only to start it all over again the very next day.

I believed this lie up until a few years ago. I was introduced to Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income Podcast, and it changed my thinking about careers in general. He opened up the doors and showed me that there is more out there than just working for someone else. That you can leverage your own skills and passion and turn it into a thriving business, if you would only have the courage and commitment to do so.

Now, this isn’t for everybody, some might like working for others, and then getting to go home and forget about that work for the rest of the day. If you choose to do this, more power to you. Just be willing to open up your mind that there is more out there than you might believe. You don’t have to do everything a certain way just because that is all you’ve ever known.

There might be just the right job out there for you, with just the right atmosphere, but you will never find it if you decide to settle on something less. The truth is that it doesn’t matter if its passive income, freelancing, or a traditional job. As long as it is something that you enjoy going to, and would do it even if you weren’t being paid.

I should have understood this at an earlier age due to countless re-watchings of Dead Poets Society. The push to live free and suck the marrow out of life never really pushed its way into my stubborn mind until after college, when I found myself living just like everybody else. I am so thankful that I finally smartened up, I still wonder what took me so long.

Reason to leave a job #5: You Find the Work Unfulfilling

The funny thing about unfulfilling work is that when you reach a highly sought after target, it can feel pointless to just maintain.

For example; at our old jobs we always had to reach for 100% occupancy of the building. We hit it within 4 months. Then they told us to make sure all the residents paid rent on time. We did. Then they said make all of your residents happy. They were.

We literally hit every goal that the company put our way. Of course, it felt great, but the motivation to continue at that pace wasn’t there. There was nothing in it for us to keep going, other than of course the reason to keep the residents happy, that was very important.

But overall, we felt a complete lack of fulfillment because we had nowhere to go but down on any major metric. To make it worse, there was no bonus structure or any additional compensation for staying at 100%.

We knew we wanted to leave, but we felt particularly out of sync when a promised bonus was less than what it was supposed to be, even though we did a great job. We did a good job and weren’t properly rewarded for it? Yah, welcome to the real world. Get us the hell out of here.

I’m not bitter at all towards the company, but the way they handled these things made me realize just how wrong it is to trade hours for dollards, and working towards someone else’s dream really is.

#6: It Feels Like a “Job”

Your line of work should never feel like a “job.” You should want to go into work every day. As soon as it starts feeling like just another day and just another paycheck is the day you should consider finding something that is more fulfilling.

#7: All of it Just Seems Wrong

This is when everything starts to feel wrong about your job. You start to develop a routine and you wonder how you ended up in this rut. The daily commute, being told when to take breaks, getting yelled at for ridiculous things, and having to beg to be able to take vacation time. And oh yah you want Christmas off? Good luck with that pal.

If this is you, just know that you don’t need to put up with it forever. No one is ever stuck at a job forever. Yes, you might have to grin and bear it, but spend any free time you have planning to get away from the rat race.

#8: You are Starting to Feel More Negative in General

This reason to leave a job effected me personally, and thus why it’s on this list.

I have always considered myself a positive person, always ready to smile and nod, even through tough times.

The last few months at my last job? Positivity was a fleeting thought. I would come in all smiles, hoping to coast the wave of fresh energy, but it would often come crashing down as soon as I received multiple requests for my attention. Now, I never lost my patience with any residents or staff, thankfully, but I came close on several occasions.

The job was changing the way I reacted to situations, and it was changing it for the worse.

Be strong with your core values, and if your job threatens to break you, get out before it’s too late.

#9: Your Passion is Elsewhere

Is your mind elsewhere while doing your daily reports? Is your mind on your side hustle or side business?

Why not make a plan to turn that side hustle into a full time income? You are never going to be more than 80% sure of any decision you make, so you might as well go for it. The worst that can happen is you fail, and you learn from that failure.

This process is easier said than done of course, but if you are unhappy in your current situation, you have to make a plan, and then take action steps in order to get out from under that big ol’ unhappy rock.

Pursue your passion with all of your strength. Forget anything you read or hear that says you can’t do it, because you can.

#10: Your Physical Health is Taking a Hit

Your physical health is very important, and there is a good chance your job might be affecting it. If you work in any one of these 10 jobs, you should be concerned about your overall well-being.

The positions affected range from teachers to doctors, but they all have one thing in common, the likelihood of weight gain while employed. This is not to say that if you are in one of these positions then you will definitely gain weight and otherwise be unhealthy, but the chances are indeed statistically higher for you.

Stress also has a major impact on the quality of sleep that you get. It’s important to focus on reducing stress levels so you can be a healthier person overall.

#11: You Feel Stuck

Feeling stuck in not somewhere anyone wants to be, but it is somewhere you can find yourself quickly if you are not careful. When all of a sudden you work at a job you hate, but also have real world responsibilities (and of course the student loan debt it took to land you that job). YIKES!

I have felt this way myself at times, burdened by the thinking that my current lot in life couldn’t possibly get better.

As I have eluded to before, anyone can get unstuck, it just takes work. Just don’t let your current situation become your destiny, you are better than that.

#12: You Don’t Believe in the Company or Its Values

If the little voice in the back of your head, your conscious, is on high alert when at work, you might want to truly consider these reasons to leave your job.

It can be increasingly difficult to follow your own moral compass when your co-workers, boss, and company as a whole do things that you disagree with. Certainly, if any laws are being broken you should tell someone, but decisions are often in the gray area and things may not be clear.

There are millions of moral and immoral decisions being made everyday by people just like you. Which side of the fence do you want to land on? You might want to jump ship before you do something you will regret.

#13: No Opportunity for Advancement

Let me ask you: If you are in a dead end job, what the heck are you doing there? Here is some tough love for you, get out while you still can. There is so much more out there, and so much more impact that you can have instead of being a janitor at a Bob Evans.

Don’t believe the lie that you have to settle for less.

It won’t happen overnight, but if years fly by with little to no movement on your part, challenge yourself to make a big change and take a chance on yourself.

#14: You’re Bored

I probably should have put this one at the top of the list. I get bored a little too easily by repeat tasks. There were times in my old jobs where I literally could not do the work I was assigned, because it was just so boring. I chose to either put it off, or painfully push through it.

If we are bored then we are not challenging ourselves enough.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 says:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

Do good, and be joyful. This can be applied to our attitudes in any profession, and something I need to work on, but at the end of the day, if we are unable to give ourselves joyfully to the work we are doing, then we need to find different work.

#15: Have Never Considered Yourself an Entrepreneur 

This is okay. Not everyone considers themselves an entrepreneur. The fact is though that the best chance you have of making your dreams come true is not working on someone else’s dime. if you truly want to break free of the shackles of modern society and be free to pursue your own passions, you need to catch at least a little bit of the entrepreneurial bug.

Starting out is as simple (and complicated) as believing in yourself. You don’t need to invest a 100k on a brick and mortar business with a shady business man. Nope. All you need to do is believe that you have something valuable to share. Start a blog, write a book, start charging to show people around your city (YES someone actually does this, and makes a full time living from it, check it out right here).

If you want to learn more about side hustles and other ways to make money you can check out this book called Buy Buttons by Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation. It is a good read and will tell you all you need to know about making money on the side, even if you decide to stay at your full time position.

#16: Your Happiness and Mood are in the Hands of Others

Alright truthfully, at times your mood is going to be dependent upon other people. If I wrote a letter to my wife, and she threw it in the trash without even reading it, I would definitely be upset. Not cool honey! (This didn’t really happen, but it would make me sad if it did ;))

Seriously though, if a co-worker drops the ball on a major project, your boss finds out, you get called into the office, and you get the blame for it, yikes! All of this because of a job that stresses you out and barely pays the bills. There is just too much that is out of your control in this type of structure, and that just isn’t fair to you at all. You shouldn’t put up with it, and you don’t have to.

And Lastly #17: Retirement Savings? You Got to Be Kidding Me

This extremely interesting article explains why what we think of as retirement savings is a thing of the past due to a change in how we view jobs. I love the perspective and change in thinking.

In the past people worked a job, and made a career out of it. It wasn’t something meant for happiness, it was merely a means to an end. Looking forward to retirement to spend their golden years doing whatever made them happy.

I won’t go so far as to say this perspective is wrong, its just different. It was a different time and place.

But now, do you really want to put your trust in social security and the lot? Not me dude. No way. I put my trust first and foremost in God, but then after that its up to me. I’m not going to spend my time working an unfulfilling job just to put food on the table. I would much rather cut spending and do with less than subject myself to the stress and pain of dealing with a job that pays the bills, but does little more than that for my overall well-being.

This might just be me, but I suspect its not. I believe it will be the growing trend because we are on a mission to find truth. And there is nothing more true than wanting to seek out a job that will both fulfill my own passions, but will also make a major difference in my community, and ultimately the world.

Get out from under the basement of corporate America, where you will always be told just how much you can make. Get out and create your own idea of an income ceiling (even if you have to live for awhile on less). Wouldn’t you rather spend a few years eating PBJs for lunch, than working away your life at a job you despise?

There is no safety in staying at a job with a high salary. You could be let go tomorrow for no reason. Yah, you might think the chances of that are slim, and you are probably right, but the threat of someone else having your destiny in their hands should be more than enough to scare you.

It should be enough for you to seriously consider quitting your job.

It’s for you to decide your destiny, no one else.

Excuse me while I hop off my soapbox and grab a PBJ for supper.

-Jordan