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How to decide if you should quit your job or not?


Jake.

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Not so sure though. It's only the western ideas of life and success that say we should have a 'career' and structure to our lives. I've met plenty of people in their 40s and upwards living life day to day, travelling around the place, and they seem just as happy with their minimal lifestyle and lack of set direction.

But it also involves long term stability as well. Living life day to day and hand to mouth is great unless you find yourself incapacitated somehow so can't work or get old without anyone to look after you or a pension/property etc. to fall back on. I'd also guess it's easier to achieve that in foreign places like Thailand etc. than to do that successfully in the UK where living costs are far higher and unless you go down the benefits route will struggle to live on a day to day basis without any regular work or whatever.

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Me and my sister are polar opposites. She’s 3 years older and has spent the last 5-6 years travelling the world teaching English and scuba diving living hand to mouth.

When I was on holiday scuba diving I was so jealous when I saw the life she was living - 8 hours on a boat in the sun and diving in gorgeous water. (Hardly like work)

But then I saw her jealousy when I had the offer I put in on a flat accepted.

That really sums it all up - I'm a corporate worker - well compensated - 9-5 - grinder. But she lives day by day when I have a 10 year plan.

My advice would be to do Halfords. You’re doing some engineering degree so working on bikes "says" more on your CV than being a pot washer. In your position I would definitely advise trying to get something better (even if very low paid / free) in a small fabricator or workshop. Thousands of people have "this qualification" and what will set you apart will be 98% experience and 2% interview.

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But it also involves long term stability as well. Living life day to day and hand to mouth is great unless you find yourself incapacitated somehow so can't work or get old without anyone to look after you or a pension/property etc. to fall back on. I'd also guess it's easier to achieve that in foreign places like Thailand etc. than to do that successfully in the UK where living costs are far higher and unless you go down the benefits route will struggle to live on a day to day basis without any regular work or whatever.

Ok those people were one example - another could be avoiding university and starting a business on a whim after drifting about for 10 years. I just don't like the way that we enter our 20s with this idea that anything is possible, that we could be anyone or live anywhere - and within just 10 years as we enter our 30s, suddenly it's all over. There's this expectation that we should now know what we're going to do for the rest of our lives, where that life will be lived and who with, or else somehow it's too late. Facebook suddenly becomes full of photos of weddings posted up every Monday, pictures of newborn kids. Which is completely fine, but it's interesting how quickly we go from the one extreme to the other. And I feel this expectation when I visit my hometown - it's all couples and stuff, and parents friends trying to tactfully ask if there's 'someone special' in my life, if I've bought a house etc, as if it's important, as if they're the benchmarks for success. My sister has these things and is happy - please don't take this as my suggestion that it's not one way to do things that's fulfilling, as she's probably happier than me.

I just think it's ok to not have to be like that, whether you are some kind of 45 year old vagabond living on a shoestring (certainly not my preference) or someone who aged 35 goes back to university because they want a change. I think I've steered this discussion way off topic - I get what you're saying, that being totally clueless and having no apparent worry about it, probably isn't a good thing, but at the same time it isn't necessarily a bad thing either. Put another way, I don't think that age should be an overwhelming factor, or that you necessarily need a career job to be happy, wealthy or otherwise do well. Or that once you have these things it's all set, and you can't throw them away.

On the subject of pensions and property, I hear you, they're valid issues. Personally I take it only semi-seriously - I'm not going to make too many sacrifices right now for the off-chance I make it to retirement age. Again I'm not sure those things have to be so important. Planning for future and retirement are fine, but I just don't think things are as fixed and predictable as we might like to think. Economies can crash, people can get cancer. I guess it all comes down to finding a balance that suits you, weighing up living today versus the risk of suddenly arriving at 65 and being destitute...

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Not ashamed but being 30+ and 'still f**kin around deciding what route to go' isn't the sort of career advice my teachers/parents were giving out when I was out school and isn't for everyone. Likewise I know a mortgage, career and 2.4 children isn't for everyone but it seems to work for a lot of (happy) people as well.

Who's 30+ ??!

:P

As retirement got mentioned, i will say, screw pensions.

I feel like Tony. Being told such bs was quite annoying and having pressure put on you wasn't cool.

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And me. Simple reason. If you enjoy the job, keep it. If not, chuck it in and do something else. Sometimes it's not always about money, you have to enjoy the job you are doing to be productive, that's my theory anyway

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