2-3-4 Friday

‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’

1 thought

In my last job, I was asked to leave with immediate notice. When they told me why I had to leave, I was mortified.

To me, it seemed like a misunderstanding in terms of procedures. But to them, it was worthy of ‘gross misconduct’ and I was told to either be terminated, or hand in my resignation.

They wanted me to leave immediately, leaving my clients in the lurch. They wanted me to leave that exact same day. At 4pm that afternoon, I was told to pack up my things.

Within me, I felt a bubbling of anger, resentment, and indignation. How could they do this? Weren’t they human?

Just weeks before, I had sponsored $5000 worth of my books, and now they were treating me like dirt, not even bothering to give me a fair hearing. They had made their decision, and they were there to communicate it with me.

But as quickly as I noticed those feelings arise, I also learnt to let them go.

There was little point fighting. It would just cause more unnecessary pain to myself.

If this was a poker game, I folded my hand and exited the round.

They terminated my email account that very same afternoon. My profile picture went from a happy cheery boy, seated with the background of Edinburgh, to a default grayscale man, with a strike through the middle.

The email account no longer existed.

Somehow I managed to bargain for an extra day to close things off nicely, to hand off my clients properly, and not have to rush things through.

When I recounted this incident to a friend, he asked me why I didn’t fight harder.

You fight for something,

if it’s worth it.

This wasn’t worth the fight.

Yes, I may have been right. But staying on in a job that I hated meant little to me.

In your own life, you may see this. Someone wrongs you. You deserve something.

But the question we must ask is,

is this worth the fight?

Because we often fight for something that has a big downside, but a small upside.

We don’t think of the fights we involve ourselves in in this manner. We sometimes think that if our name is sullied, we need to fight tooth, nail and claw to get it back.

1 talk

Learning to quit is just as vital as learning to fight.

1 tip

Ask yourself if what you’re doing is giving or taking energy away from you.

Good work gives and takes energy away from you. It’s like a mutually reciprocal relationship.

You put in, and you take back.

Bad work, is often like a black hole for your life energy. No matter how much you put in, it seems to always want more. It never stops asking for more.

That’s what I assessed to be ‘wrong’ with the work I was doing. With clients, I was not achieving much breakthrough. With the organisation, everything I pushed for kept getting stuck.

It took more and more out of me, without giving me any joy.

Sure, there was the $4070 in pay that came in monthly. But beyond that, there was nothing else.

Find what takes energy from you, but gives you so much more back. That’s when you’d know you’re working on something worth pushing for.

John

Live Young, Live Well - Work Your Love

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