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As a counter-balance to yesterday’s post, I’m offering up 7 reasons you should keep going at it, and truck ahead. If you were all gung-ho about my post yesterday, I apologize, because I’m laying out the reasons (some of which I’m currently pondering) why you should stay and tough it out!

1. Avoid the knee-jerk reaction.
Sometimes, the idea of quitting is brought on by some recent event – something stressful happened with a client or co-worker, and you just want to explode and tell them to shove it. Or, perhaps it’s the old “times are changing” thing, and you feel you’re out of the loop, or, unable to keep up, or maybe the market isn’t flexible enough to handle your load. Instead of tossing your hands in the air and giving up – try to think of ways you can make it work. perhaps you can schedule some time for yourself to head out to the library or local coffee shop (with your laptop) and get some peace and quiet away from home to read up on sites that have to do with your business, and how they are progressing. Take a breather, and discover ways you can improve yourself and your skillset.

When it comes to a client, what helps me (and this is just me) is to write an email telling them exactly what I think. I lay it all out there, and vent as if I want to let them know xactly how I feel and what i want to say. it’s very liberating, and it feels good to get it all out like that. BUT, I do two things: 1) save it as a draft and 2) never put the client’s email address in the “to:” field (you don’t want to accidentally send it!) I’ll sleep on it for a day or two, and after I’ve calmed down and cleared my head, I’ll open it back up and rewrite it in a more professional manner, leaving out the anger and emotions, and finding a gentle way to put my words.

Now again, this isn’t a solution for the general “should I quit” thing… but if you find you’re wanting to leave simply because someone get under your skin, take a breather. Don’t do something you’ll regret.

2. You love what you do.
This is the one I’m struggling with the most. I adore my job. I love it. I cannot express in words how much I LOVE MY FREAKING JOB. Seriously. If I quit my job, I do not know what I would do with myself. Of course, the reason I’m considering it is because I do have other things I want (and in some cases need) to do, but when I am not working, I am yearning ot be here working, or learning stuff for work, or writing about work. My husband says this is because I’m a workaholic. But I know it’s because I love my job. I love what it gives me. Even if I wasn’t paid a cent for anything I do, I would still do it.

3. Your job satisfies you.
I don’t mean “satisfaction” in the way that it’s okay, or it’ll do for now (which is pretty much how my husband views his job – he’s doesn’t exactly like it, but he doesn’t dislike it either). I mean the type of satisfaction that makes you feel like it’s meeting your needs, it’s fulfilling, and you look forward to doing it. Even on the days where all you have is boring office paperwork to slog through, you still wouldn’t have it any other way. This does, in a way, reflect #2 up there, but loving what you do, and having it satisfy your needs is not the same thing – but when oyu have them together, it’s hard to deny them.

4. You are happy.
Again, this ties in to #2 and #3 above, but it’s doesn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand with them. This is another one I’m currently debating on. I am lucky in the fact that I have #2 and #3 going for me, but I’m waning on this one. But the cause of my “unhappiness” (however slight it may be) is not because of the job itself, it’s the time I put into it, and the major sacrifices I’ve been making. My job does make me very happy. But right now, I’m not quite sure that it’s worth the other happiness-es I’m giving up. (If that makes sense.) But if you are happy where you are – well if you’re happy where you are, you wouldn’t need this list! LOL – then perhaps something else is lacking that you could work on to boost the joy.

5. The money.
Now, some people do believe that money makes the world go ’round, but I don’t. There’s a gazillion ways to make money, but finding real happiness is hard. BUT, money does have an effect on your happiness. It’s hard to gauge the relationship there – many people feel if they have a lot of money, they are happy because they don’t have to worry – but on the other end, if you have too much money, it becomes worrisome on what to do with it, or how to handle it properly. If you’re on that nice balance, then you don’t have to worry about it.

I wanted to write 7 points, just to be fair, but I couldn’t think of two more! All I know is, if you’re like me and you’re actually considering quitting, the above points do need to be taken into consideration as well. Leaving something you love, and satisfies you, can be a really regrettable move for the future. You’d better have a damn good reason for doing it. If you want to quit just because it’s too hard, or more work than you though, then you need to decide if that’s truly the case. Can you end that with “right now”? If it’s too hard “right now,” and you quit now, how will that affect the “later”? Is it worth it?

This is where I’m at, actually. But after writing this post, I’m just thinking I just need a vacation!