The Niche Movement’s Leap of Faith series features stories about big life changes and major pivots, focusing on the courage it takes to commit to the leap. This week’s blog features Kat Whitaker’s decision to take the leap before quitting her job. Read on to learn how Kat prioritized her own wellbeing and mental health above keeping a traditional job to impress her peers and colleagues.
Often, people think success looks like a good 9 to 5 job. Steady. Dependable. Honorable.
But sometimes, full-time jobs aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Especially if we have an unhealthy work environment. When we work in a toxic environment, we often lose hope. We lose the drive to see our next step, to see a way out, and to see our true niche. We become utterly stuck.
When our vision becomes that cloudy, it’s time to make a drastic change in order to find ourselves and our calling again.
That’s exactly what Kat did. She took a leap.
When work became so toxic that she couldn’t function at her true 100%, she knew it was time to walk away--without another full-time job lined up--which took real courage.
Here are the key takeaways anyone should consider if they’re unhappy in their job. Before quitting, make sure that you understand:
Your personal values, goals, and what work means to you
You have a beautiful network of family and friends who believe in you
You’re worthy of feeling good about yourself and the work you do
Read the rest of Kat’s words of encouragement from her to her below. Hopefully, it will inspire you to make hard decisions for your growth as well.
Dear Kat,
I bet you can still picture that moment and hear the words, “this is a nightmare” as you stared out her office window and thought to yourself over and over again “I hate this job.”
What a terrible day that was for you.
Bet you didn’t know one person could cry so much while sitting at their desk? No one should be treated like that, especially in the workplace. I bet you didn’t know that months later you’d continue to cry like that before going to work, begging for a little more time at home before leaving for work. (Thank goodness for a dog that just lets you sob on top of them and doesn’t question it.)
I’m proud of you for taking the leap. It was so scary to know that you were leaving a full-time job with benefits for a part-time job and no “real” plan of what would come next. I’m proud that you knew you shouldn’t live your life that way though. I’m proud that you trusted yourself to try something brand new, coaching middle school field hockey, with minimal knowledge of coaching a sport and not picking up a field hockey stick in almost 14 years. But it worked out. Your constant eye twitch went away. That sick to your stomach feeling every morning disappeared. I think you got some of your sense of humor back too.
I know it’s hard too. It’s hard to give up on something you thought was your lifelong dream and walk away from something that just a year ago you wanted so badly. I hope you know
you’re worthy of feeling good about yourself and the work you do (whatever it may be). I hope you know that the work you did do was appreciated and made a difference for the students you worked with in your past job. I hope you know you will find something that lights you up and makes you feel valued again.
Here’s to continuing to take more leaps of faith.
I hope you’ll use this time away from traditional full-time employment to reflect on your personal values, goals, and what work means to you.
I hope you start that Etsy shop you’ve been dreaming of and accomplish your goal of hand lettering envelopes for a wedding or party or holiday cards for someone.
I hope you enjoy coaching another new sport.
I hope you enjoy wearing stretchy pants to work again.
I hope you develop new skills and discover strength within you that you didn’t know existed.
Most of all, I hope you’re happy during this journey. It is scary to leap into the unknown. It’s draining to always look at job boards and apply for jobs. You also have a beautiful network of family and friends who believe in you, love you, and support you no matter what.
Just keep going, you’ve got this.
Love,
Kat
If you were going to take a leap of faith, what would you say to yourself as words of encouragement?