7 Valuable Lessons I Learned Working a Job I Hated for 2 Years

They say that the best lessons are learned through hardships and pain…

And they are right!

Working a job I absolutely hated for 2 years was one of the most painful experiences of my life but as it turns out, it taught me a number of valuable lessons about myself, jobs, people, and life in general that I might have never learned otherwise.

And guess what!

In this article, I am going to let you know all about them.

Without further ado, here are 7 Lessons I Learned From Working a Job I Hated for 2 Years.

 

7 Valuable Lessons I Learned Working a Job I Hated for 2 Years

 

1 • My Time is Valuable

After working a job I hated for a while, maybe a year or so, I realized how valuable my time was and how awful it is wasting it doing something I hated because once this time is gone, it’s lost forever… It can never, ever, come back again.

This actually helped me figure out ways to manage the rest of my time much more effectively.

I weeded out bad habits and situations that didn’t serve me and my goals. I stopped wasting my time on people that didn’t deserve it.

And most importantly, I learned to invest as much of my free time as possible in improving aspects of my life that needed improving.

For instance, instead of watching a movie per day, I started working out more. Instead of getting wasted every weekend, I started reading books, meditating, and cycling. Instead of complaining to myself and to others about how awful my job was, I decided to redirect all this energy towards scaling my online business so I could become the boss of myself and not have to work another bad job ever again in my life.

My time is limited so if I want to eventually live a better life, I need to make the most out of it.

BTW, I put this article together with speech to text while driving to work 😉 I have put other articles together the same way while washing dishes…

Time is my only asset. And it’s the most valuable asset that I will ever have…

That’s why I try to make every single second count.

 

2 • Money Won’t Make You Happy if You Hate How You Earn It

Truth is that the job I hated provided me with a pretty decent salary especially compared to other people I knew as well as taking into account the shitty economical state that my country was in.

It helped me rent a nice apartment of my own, I had my car, my girlfriend, my nights out, etc. I had stuff that others were dreaming of; stuff that even I was dreaming of before I got that job.

BUT, working a job I hated was taking everything away from me… I wasn’t able to enjoy any of it.

My job was constantly on my mind. Even while being at home or during the weekends and my annual leaves I couldn’t stop worrying that at some point I would have to return to this hellhole.

One night, I was out with my best friend and he asked me “For how much money would you shut up, settle, and keep working that job for one more year?”

I thought about it for a couple of seconds and my answer was “None”. No amount of money could possibly change my mind and convince me to keep working that job.

This was the moment that I actually realized that I had no choice but to start taking the necessary steps to quit my job.

The next day I started looking for another job and after a while, I managed to land a much better and tolerable one (which paid less by the way).

 

3 • It Impacted My Overall Health

Working a job I hated impacted a lot of aspects of my health both physical and mental and I saw that the longer I stayed at that job the worse my health kept getting.

Some of my most prominent symptoms were

• Increased stress
• Constant tiredness (I used to be full of energy before that job)
• Daily headaches (before working that job I had never had a headache in my life)
• Compromised immune system (at some point I got down with the flu 3 times within a month)
• Decreased mood to participate in activities that I used to enjoy (working out, going out with friends, seeing my family, reading books, etc)
• And much more

For more on how working a job, you hate can affect your health, go ahead and check my article How Working a Job You Hate Negatively Affects Your Health

In addition, working that job also changed my overall psyche.

I felt powerless and weak. Especially during the last few months before I managed to quit, I was feeling like I had lost all control over my life.

I was looking back and I couldn’t believe how much I’d changed.

I just wasn’t my good old self.

 

4 • It Teaches You Patience and Resilience

There’s nothing that can skyrocket your patience and resilience more than going and wasting half of your waking hours working a job you absolutely despise.

The concept is simple…

If you have the patience and resilience to keep going to a job you hate, day after day, month after month, year after year, then you will definitely have 100x the patience and resilience to achieve goals which will improve your life and make you happier.

And generally speaking, patience and resilience are key elements to achieving any kind of worthwhile goal, from financial, to health, and relationship.

However, that doesn’t mean that you have to be patient while hoping that things are going to change for the better by themselves because they most probably won’t…

Instead, take advantage of this patience and resilience that you have cultivated so far and do what’s necessary to improve your situation.

 

5 • It Helps You Determine What You Like Doing

And maybe discover your passions and what job you would love to do for the rest of your life.

Those 2 years that I worked a job I hated I realized which aspects of a job matter the most to me and this helped me find a better job which fulfilled most my needs. No job is perfect after all.

During those 2 years, I also found out what I would love to do for the rest of my life.

I realized that I don’t like being an employee and that I would eventually want to become my own boss rather than having a boss controlling my daily schedule. I’d rather determine my own schedule according to my own needs, work at my own pace, whenever I want and from wherever I want.

I want to tailor my work according to my life and not tailor my life based on my work.

And that’s why I am now patiently building up my own online business, this website – in order to quit all jobs forever and become my own boss like a boss 😉

I know that this goal is going to be challenging and demanding but that doesn’t matter.

I will do whatever it takes…

I won’t stop until I get where I want…

And the fact that I love what I am doing makes the whole process much easier for me.

Do what you love and you won’t have to work a single day in your life… – Confucius

 

6 • It Sucks Balls

It’s undeniable that working a job you hate sucks balls…

It sucks hard!

For me, working a job I hated was one of the worst experiences of my life. And I am sure that this might be the case for a lot of you as well.

The worst part of working a job you hate is that it’s not going to be just a one-time happening but rather an ongoing situation of unbelievable frustration and immense amounts of stress. And that ongoing thing is what makes the entire experience so fucking hard.

At least this was the case for me.

I have worked many jobs during my life (I have been working since I was 14 years old). Some of them I liked. Towards others I was indifferent.

But wasting my time on a job I hated day after day for 2 years was something that I couldn’t handle and something that I will never allow myself to go through again during my lifetime, period…

7 • You HAVE to Eventually Quit It

The most important lesson I learned by working a job I hated for 2 years is that there was NOT a single fucking chance in frozen hell for me to keep working there for the rest of my days.

If you are working a job you hate and you want to maintain your sanity, you have to find your way out of it better sooner than later.

Let go of all excuses and complains, fuck fear, grow a pair, and start planning your way out NOW.

You could quit cold-turkey. If you are reading this while at work, here are 4 simple steps to quit your job right now:

1. Get up
2. Pack your crap
3. Leave the building
4. Never come back

If you are at home, the process is even simpler… Just don’t go to work tomorrow, and the day after that, and for the rest of your life.

I know this sounds scary as fuck but truth is that I have never heard of a person who regretted their decision of leaving a job they hated without having anything else lined up. Some of them even claim that it was the best decisions they ever made.

On the other hand, if you are afraid of leaving yourself without an income consider figuring out a way to replace it before you quit. Truth is that there are much more ways to replace your income than you might believe.

For instance, I am building an online business on the side of my day job. When it brings in enough money, I will quit my job and still have a steady income.

However, this option usually takes a lot of time.

Whatever the case, do yourself a favor and don’t keep working a job you hate for the rest of your life.

This would be such a waste of the limited amount of time you get to live on this earth.

 

So, are you still working a job you hate? For how long has this been going on? What holds you back from quitting it? What lessons have you learned through it so far?

Let me know in the comments below.

 

If you have any questions or need any further help or guidance from me, please email me at harry@dearboss-iquit.com or drop me a PM on my Wealthy Affiliate Profile.

I’ll be thrilled to help you out.

Harry,
dearboss-iquit.com