I’ve always gone above and beyond in my career. I recently turned 33 and also had my 10 year anniversary at the same company I started at after university. I’ve moved up over the years and have the second highest position (next to the CEO) with the assumption that I assume his role when he retires. I have a bookshelf full of awards recognizing my work. I own my house, I am financially secure. Despite all of that, I had a realization that has shifted my relationship with work and I’ve started what is best described as quietly quitting.
Long story short, I had been working on an product expansion project for more then two years… essentially, we were breaking into the Canadian market with our top selling products. It was a stressful project that took a lot of my time to create.
Near the end of getting everything ready to go, I realized that the board, CEO, my staff… no one really cared about what this could do for the company. I felt like the only one who gave a shit.
So I killed the project.
I formed a statement about why the “timing isn’t right” and sent it to everyone involved.
And to my surprise, no one cared. Two years of work ended with an email.
I had been stressing out over something that literally no one cared about except me. So, this resulted in A LOT of self reflection. Over the next couple months I killed a few other projects and now I’m just coasting at work, and focusing on my life, hobbies, health, and relationships.
One thing I’m struggling with right now is that my online presence, social profiles, network, and reputation have been detrimental to quit quitting. I’m planning to phase out my online presence over the coming months and make myself less accessible. It has taken a lot of time and energy to be at the level I’m at and I need time away from managing a persona I no longer align with.
Also, I can’t shake this feeling of guilt like I should be doing more. I’m struggling – it feels like I was going 120 mph to maybe like 10 mph. I feel I should be doing more- but the company is doing just fine, and I do need to break free from this “do more” mindset. Life is too short.
I’m curious if there are other executives out there who are also quietly quitting? What tips/lessons can you share?