After two years of feeling miserable, being demoralized by my micromanaging manager, and being deeply unhappy about the place I live, I decided to quit my corporate job without anything new lined up. Despite people telling me I'm absolutely crazy for what I did: it feels GREAT.
Last year, my employer caused me a mental and physical breakdown, I was completely burnt out, all I could do was stay in bed feeling my heart racing and my body sweating. Over the past 6 months I have been a significant time on sick leave, had wonderful restorative holidays far away from home and been on therapy to recover. I wouldn't say I'm there yet, but I definitely feel much better.
During this process of recovery, I learned so much about myself and what I value and want in life and my work. That certainly is not an employer that gives its high level execs bonuses of in the millions, while they refuse to give employees decent salary raises in times of heavy inflation. It's also certainly not an employer that increasingly forces employees back in the office for no other reason than the CEO wanting this to happen. It's also certainly not an employer which implements ridiculous cost-cutting while I make the company millions. And it definitely is not an employer which does not understand or respect a person's limits in terms of workload.
I want to thank the subreddits CareerGuidance, PersonalFinance and AntiWork for opening my eyes. This community is so special, and without you I wouldn't have been able to see how to stand up for myself and do this. I am blessed to have significant savings which allow me to take this step and I'm well aware not everyone is this lucky. But it shows how important saving is.
The next 12 months or so, I will be travelling around the world to eventually settle elsewhere. I will go on a journey of self-discovery while I leave everything behind at home. My home, my friends, my family. I'm selling my place, selling my furniture, and literally giving up everything in order to chase my own happiness.
To this community, I'd like to say; life is short, life is fragile, and you never know when it's your last day. While you are still young and healthy, please don't spend your time feeling miserable because of your work. Find out what you really enjoy, what you value in life, switch jobs or become an expert in something you LOVE and offer your services to companies as an entrepreneur. I have always lived by the idea that life sorts itself out, and things will always fall in the right place. You can do this, and you'll be able to get out of the darkness to find your own happiness. Keep fighting, never give up. <3