7 Sad Reasons Why People Stay In Jobs They Hate vs Starting A Business15 min read
Desperate to quit your soul sucking job and start a business that gives you the freedom to live life on your terms? Here’s exactly why you won’t do it. This article is all about why people stay in jobs they hate instead of starting a business. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, this article will help you discover how to quit your job and pursue your dream of starting a business so that you can live a more fulfilling life.
The soul sucking corporate job I dedicated 40-60 hours a week of my life to made me miserable. I was good at my job, but the positive performance reviews and annual raises did nothing to relieve the weight in my chest whenever I pulled up to the office… This place was sucking the life out of me. I had no energy left for my family, no time for my hobbies, and I felt completely lost. I wasn’t motivated to get up in the mornings and the ‘Sunday Scaries’ hit hard every week.
But now? I’m the CEO of my dream business, waking up in the morning exploding with joy, working 12 hour weeks and making 6 figures doing work I absolutely love (read more about me). As a life and business success coach, I work with aspiring entrepreneurs who want to launch businesses that give them the freedom, fulfillment, and financial abundance to live their best lives.
From this perspective, I want to share what keeps most people from actually doing the thing, and launching their dream business, and why 80% of people are still stuck in jobs they hate instead of pursuing their dreams, so that, if you’re debating starting a business, you can pursue your dream and escape the job you hate.
7 Sad Reasons People Stay In Jobs They Hate Instead Of Starting A Business
In my daily work as a life and business success coach for high achieving women, I’ve noticed the same reasons, patterns, and excuses arise for why people don’t follow their dreams and start a business that lights them up, and instead choose to stay in jobs they dislike (whether it’s for months, years, or for eternity…)
You’re waiting for your purpose to find you
Most people are still stuck in jobs they hate because they don’t know what they want to do with their lives. And the reason that’s still unclear is because they’re waiting for their purpose to strike like lightning.
What most people don’t realize about finding your purpose is that it’s a process (if you want to know exactly what that process looks like, you can read all about How To Find Your Purpose & Work You Love In 8 Steps).
If you’re expecting to one day wake up and “just know” what you’re meant to be doing with your life, you’ll be waiting an infinitely long time.
You can’t find your purpose, you can only create it.
Ana McRae
Purpose is created through trial and error. It requires action and courage and time.
You don’t just one day happen to be in your exact dream career without realizing it…
When you follow a proven step by step process for finding your purpose and direction in life, or work with an experienced life purpose coach to help you figure out what you want to do and how to get there, you are able to get enough clarity on your direction and next steps to start taking meaningful action. Without that clarity, you’ll understand firsthand why people stay in jobs they hate… because it feels like the only option.
It’s not. Dig into these powerful journal prompts for finding your purpose on your lunch break.
If you struggle with answering these questions, book a free connection call and let me help you get the clarity you need to find your purpose and create a career that lights you up.
You’re taking advice from people who shouldn’t have a say
People love to tell you what you should do with your life. But even when it’s coming from a good place, if you’re taking advice from a person whose life you don’t wish to emulate, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
If you want to live your life in alignment with your purpose, stop listening to people who are not doing that themselves!
80% of people are unhappy with their jobs, which makes you think that perhaps you’re the crazy one thinking you can make money doing work you love…
Stop buying into the narrative that work is meant to be soul-sucking and that’s just the way adulting goes.
Believe me, it’s not. I worked a soul sucking job for years thinking it was my only option. Now I am running my dream business, literally living a life I didn’t think was even possible for me. But it was.
You do not need advice from people in the cubicle next to you who also hate their jobs but are not out there living their dreams… they do not know what is possible.
You do not need advice from your parents, or any of your family members, who love you and want to keep you safe from getting hurt.
You need advice from a coach that sees you in your full potential, or from someone who has done what you want to do.
- If you want to make money sitting at home in your pajamas, talk to someone who has done it.
- If you want to open your own microbrewery, talk to someone who has done it.
- If you want to become a writer, talk to someone who has done it.
Stop asking for permission to chase your dream from people who have no concept of what is possible for you.
Reach out to 3 people who are doing what you want to be doing and engage them in a meaningful conversation that explores what their journey was like. Most people are honored to be asked and more than happy to help! Or, look for a coach that can support you in stepping into your full potential and achieving more in life and business – I’d be happy to see if we’re a good fit, just book a time for us to chat here.
Related post: 4 keys to feeling fulfilled in life and work
You’re hiding behind your current identity
Your brain sees you in a certain way. “I’m project manager.” “I’m a high school drop out.” “I’m a computer genius.” “I’m an electrician.” For the past however many years, it’s been looking for evidence to support this belief/view (because that’s what the brain does). This can make it feel rather hard to try on different career ideas.
Here’s the thing: the degree you chose to pursue at 17 shouldn’t dictate the life you live until you’re 60.
The way your parents, friends, and peers see you shouldn’t dictate what you do.
The options your brain believes are available to you are a very limited assortment of ideas (which is why it’s so helpful to work with a coach who can help you uncover your true potential and find your purpose.
You need to start thinking outside the box — way outside the box — if you are unhappy with your job and want to find a career that fulfills you.
How? Ask the right questions. Eliminate the obstacles. Picture yourself in an ideal world. Challenge yourself to come up with as many crazy and wild ideas as possible. Release all perceptions of your current identity and make decisions/take action from your full potential.
Related post: Overcome Fear of Success: 5 Powerful Strategies for Entrepreneurs
You’re waiting for everything to be perfect before you take action
If you’re a perfectionist, taking baby steps toward your dream goal might not even cross your mind.
You might be looking for all your ducks to be lined up in a row before you even debate taking the leap. I know I did.
I struggled to start a blog at the start of my entrepreneurial journey because I couldn’t understand exactly how it would lead to paying clients and a 6 figure business. I wanted to have the perfect strategy mapped out and know for a fact that everything would work exactly as planned before I committed to doing anything.
Unfortunately, if a mama duck was to wait for all her ducklings to line up in a row before she jumped in the water, they’d never get anywhere. Only because she dives in, do the ducklings sort themselves out and follow.
You have to do the same thing. You have to take the first step. Your belief has to be stronger than your fear.
It didn’t take long for my blog to take off and my business to grow into so much more than I even realized was possible when I first started.
But had I never started with that first step, I never would have learned what was possible for me.
If this is you, take one step toward your dream today. I’m serious.
- Buy the watercolor paints.
- Launch the WordPress site.
- Get business cards.
- Decide the title of your book.
People stay in jobs they hate because they haven’t figured out the first steps to getting out. Do whatever it takes to create an inch of momentum in your business, and you’ll find it easier to keep moving.
If you’re still reading this far down this article, you would greatly benefit from the insane value I give to my email community every week: behind the scenes lessons, strategies, and breakthroughs from my VIP 1:1 Coaching Calls to help you create a thriving business and live a fulfilling life.
Join our community by dropping your email above and you can be part the movement of people creating more happiness, fulfillment, and success on a daily basis.
You’re waiting for a guarantee instead of trusting yourself
Pivoting directions in your life, business, or career comes with risk… There’s a risk that you’ll regret your decision, or suffer a financial loss, or alienate people you love.
Most of us want a guarantee that there will be no consequences, or that the risk will pay off. Unfortunately, life doesn’t come with guarantees, and so we tend to stick with “the devil we know” instead of the one we don’t.
But the risk of pivoting directions isn’t the only risk to consider. You’re forgetting about the risk of NOT pivoting. Consider the cost of inaction… The greatest risk of all is wasting your life in a job/business that drains you.
Life might not come with guarantees but you can cultivate a whole lot of self trust. You can create your own guarantee. You are your safest asset.
Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of your comfort zone.
ANA MCRAE
Stop waiting for your success to be guaranteed. Start guaranteeing yourself that you’ll figure it out as you go along.
You’ve convinced yourself you don’t know what to do
The ironic part of working with me 1:1 VIP Purpose Coaching Clients is that they already knew their purpose.
Every single one of them comes to me saying “I have no idea what I want to do.”
And yet within 4-6 hours of coaching, every single one of them will know what they want to do.
My framework for helping high achieving women find their purpose & change directions in their career works every time.
(If you’re interested in experiencing this support in your own life, book a free connection call to see how I can help you find your purpose and create a career/business you absolutely love).
The longer you spend convincing yourself that you don’t know what you want, the easier it is to believe that excuse. But in reality, this is just a story you are telling yourself!
We tell ourselves these stories for a whole whack of reasons:
- your parents might have told you that your dream isn’t likely to happen
- your teachers might have laughed when you first tried
- your friends didn’t get it and so you stopped talking about it
- your brain is terrified of change and so it’s safer to pretend you don’t want it
Usually, for silly reasons like these, we bury our purpose deep in our hearts.
And then on top of that, to numb the pain of not pursuing the thing that fulfills us, we tell ourselves we don’t know what we want to do and so we should just stay in this mediocre job for another month, or year, or 10 years…
It’s a big fat lie.
You know what you like, what gets you fired up, and what you would spend your days doing if you could.
You might not know how to pay the bills with it, yet… but it’s there.
If this is you, get really honest with yourself and answer the following questions:
- If you could spend all day doing what you love, what would you do?
- What’s been the most satisfying thing you’ve done? What made it so fulfilling?
- What are three things you’ve done that you couldn’t wait to get at each day?
Then, look for career opportunities or business ideas that check those boxes for you! The key is that you have to actually look for them though, you can’t pretend they don’t exist!
You’re choosing comfort over courage
This is where most people get stuck.
They do the inner work to uncover their true purpose, and then they realize how much courage it will take to actually follow through with it.
And so they freak out and bury their dream, and stay in their crappy jobs.
At the societal level, and on the individual level, we have gotten used to being miserable at work… It’s almost a part of our identity.
- Crappy jobs are comfortable.
- Crappy jobs are predictable.
- Crappy jobs are easy.
Launching out to pursue your dream? That is uncomfortable, unpredictable, and challenging! But infinitely more rewarding.
Related post: The 4 Biggest Things Holding You Back In Life
If this is you, I would highly recommend investing in the help of an experienced coach who can hold you accountable to chasing your dream. There will be ups and downs throughout the entire journey and if you want to come out on the other side living your best life, you need an incredible support team to guide you!
So, now that you know why you’re still stuck in your miserable job, how do you go about figuring out your life purpose?
In this article I explain exactly how to figure out what to do with your life, going deep into the 8 steps you need to find your purpose.
Look, I get it, you followed the path society expected of you and now you feel stuck in a place where happiness no longer visits. Apparently going to school, getting a “good” job, and waiting until retirement to live your life isn’t the best path for everyone… And you’re not the only one whose story goes like this! Lots of people are currently Googling “why people stay in jobs they hate” to try and understand why they can’t seem to change careers when they so badly want to.
But what’s really standing in your way is that you haven’t firmly decided that you are WORTHY of an amazing life.
You’re CHOOSING to settle for a job that doesn’t light you up because you’re scared of letting go of everything you know to chase a dream that seems wildly unrealistic.
I’ve been through that EXACT process and I can tell you it’s WORTH getting your hopes up and wondering if there could be more to life than the crappy job you find yourself in right now… because there 1000000% is.
So I dare you to commit to taking your life to the next level, where happiness, success, and fulfillment is unlimited…
Stop settling for a job that sucks the life out of you and start taking steps toward the life and business of your dreams.
And if you’re curious about what it would look like to have a private coach support you through the process of stepping into your full potential and achieving more in life and business, let’s talk about what we could accomplish together.
What is tugging at your heart today? How can you start taking baby steps to incorporate it into your life? Let us know in the comments below!
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