Should You Quit Your Job If It Makes You Unhappy, But Pays Well?

Money is a lot of things, but it isn’t everything.

A few months ago, I was presented an opportunity to make $21 an hour working a twelve-hour night shift working for Abbott Laboratories making COVID test kits.

I only lasted three days and one of those days was training.

In the article I wrote previous to this one, I talk about why you should stick to your commitments and not give up early. So why am I going against my own advice?

That’s because your happiness and mental health are worth more than a paycheck.

Why I Quit My Job After 3 Days

I’m a firm believer in sticking to things for the long term. But with this job, I had to quit. It only took a few days to look at my life and realize that I was becoming a slave to work.

Once I realized that I wasn’t living my life anymore and instead of feeling trapped and stuck at work, I took the leap of faith to experiment with something new and it turned out to be much better for my mental health.

There is a multitude of reasons I quit and here they are:

• I was unhappy with the factory-style work I was doing.
• I knew the work I did wasn’t fulfilling my life’s purpose.
• I was surrounded by a lot of people, especially during the Pandemic.
• I stopped doing things I enjoyed like writing and exercising.
• I slept for 11 hours a day because I was too exhausted to do anything.

If it weren’t for this job experience, I would have never known what it was like. When I heard that there was a job that pays $21 an hour, I was envious and wanted a piece of the pie.

But as with anything, the grass always seems greener on the other side. But there’s a reason you were being paid such a high amount. The twelve-hour shifts and it was all at night (7 pm-7 am).

If you work these hours, you sleep away your days and work at night. There is barely anything you can do with people on a normal daily schedule, and you can feel like a lone wolf.

Your Happiness is More Important Than Money

Most people need to be able to earn a living by working at a job that can pay for their expenses. I left this job because my expenses weren’t that high and I wasn’t desperate to maintain the $21 an hour.

I understand that not everyone has the leeway to take a leap of faith, quit their job, and immediately find something new.

But if you’re feeling beat down and constantly dreading each day, feeling flustered and frustrated that you have to go into work, that’s a tell-tale sign that you should search for something new.

You should be able to work somewhere that is manageable and maintainable for your regular lifestyle. The moment that work interferes with your personal life and your mental health, it becomes a liability more than an asset.

When things get too overwhelming and you feel trapped, you have to remember that you’ve got a choice.

Deciding to leave your job for a new one even if it offers lower pay isn’t the worst thing in the world.

New Job Experience Means Gaining More Skills

When you take a leap of faith and try something new, you increase your skillset which increased your personal self-worth.

Without being a high-spirited entrepreneur and creator like I am, I would have never found that I enjoyed photography, writing, and creating videos.

These skills have all allowed me to be a marketing manager for Haikhuu Trading, and I absolutely love it.

Within many workplaces, you’re able to climb the ladder and progress. But at some workplaces, you’ll eventually hit a wall where you feel like you're no longer getting anything out of it.

It’s better to job hop to find something you truly enjoy or at least feels some sort of fulfillment from rather than settling and dreading each and every day.

Your workplace should be tolerable and not feel like you're trapped in a prison. If you feel this way, put in your two-weeks notice and start planning your next move.

Skills you can learn through new job experiences:

• Strategies to be more adaptable to new situations
• The proper way to deal with a variety of people in different fields of work.
• Ways to market yourself in the best way possible.
• More confidence to bet on yourself when things don’t go your way.

The time and effort you put into trying something new that’s out of your comfort zone will definitely pay off.

You’re going to feel far more fulfilled, begin to find yourself or your purpose, and be far more in control of your life.

If I hadn’t left any of the projects or jobs I’ve worked in the past, I would’ve felt like a slave to work, and never truly been happy in life.

Work is a big portion of your day, so why sacrifice more time than you already have by putting yourself through the same struggles and hardships you’ve already endured.

Final Thought

The most important theme of this entire article is to achieve happiness.

Your job should be a tool that helps you achieve happiness to do the things you want in life, but if it ever comes to the point where you feel like giving up or feel hopeless and constantly stressed, then you’ve got to take the leap.

Take it from someone who’s worked at more than ten different jobs and finally found a home.

Make sure that your workplace cares about you, your well-being, and achieving your goals in life.

As long as they can satisfy those three needs, then you’ve found the one.