Quitting well-paid job that makes me miserable...

[MtnBikeChick]

First of all, I realise how very lucky I am to be in the position of having this decision to make. I work PT with a great flexible arrangement in a very well-paid job. Although it is PT, I am still out of the house 11 hours a day for 3 days a week, and one day working from home (+ one day off). My partner works in a very senior, very well paid job in the financial services sector and whilst he is a very hands on dad when he is there, he travels a lot (almost weekly at the moment). I always loved my work but since I returned to my current position 18 months ago my heart has not been in it. I feel burnt out and bored. I don't give it 100% anymore. Nothing inspires me. I am cynical and I am easily distracted. Our children are 2 and 5 and I didn't like the little baby stage...but I really, really enjoy them now (most of the time!). I can see now my 5 year old is at school how he is going to need us more and more to help with homework, etc. I am worn out with the rushing, the scheduling, the planning, the commuting, the constant plate spinning. In a nut shell, I am considering quitting my job to go back and study for a career management/coaching qualification or an organizational psychology qualification. These areas really interest me and my current role has touched on career coaching very slightly. Long-term I could set up my own coaching business in the sector I have always worked in. I lack confidence (in a big way) and I worry that I haven't got what it takes to set up my own business....which is pathetic, I know. But right now the only reason I go to work is to do something different and be able to spend what I want. However at best it doesn't make me happy, and at worst it makes me bored and miserable (and occasionally stressed - I have suffered from stress in the past).

I am terrified of taking the leap. I am terrified of be not ever being able to get a job again. However, I know I can't keep doing this job as it is destroying my soul....has anyone else out there made a leap like this? Any advice?

[ENtertainmentAppreciated]

Yes. I've done it with DH. We did have the finances to start on our own though and the new business was in the same sphere that we both knew.

Could you look into any mentoring or careers advice service and does the business arm of your bank give any advice on setting up on your own?

Talk it over with your DP. At the moment, apart from the guaranteed salary - not to be sniffed at and never a given with your own business - your most valuable resource is your time and you don't seem to be spending that wisely or satisfyingly. 33 hours for part time is a lot and the time you're missing with your DCs can't ever be claimed back.

[tedhis]

Do you live in a geographic area where this coaching would be in demand? How long would it take you to train and would your experience be out of dat by then?Who currently offers this? What do they charge? If you call them now how long would you have to wait for an appointment (i.e. is there a demand) Does your company buy this service in- and if not why not?

[OneMoreForExtra]

Advice from a friend who has a Master Coach qualification: you need to have another string to your bow such as training, or an in-house position for at least some of your hours, to make coaching start-ups work. this is from the perspective of needing the salary though, so if your finances enable you to not turn a profit while you're starting up, it would be less of a constraint.

other than that, good luck with your decision, and I'm sitting by with a clipboard, fantasising about giving up a very similar 11 hrs away 4 days a week PT job for a wildly successful writing/facilitating hybrid freelance career!

[sportinguista]

I did this at the start of this year, not through choice but due to a bully of a boss who made me miserable to the point of illness. At first I felt like I was jumping off a cliff into an abyss. It took a while to get clients but once the first few came it has been a steady stream. When I first did it and before any clients happened I was terrified and moaned to DH like a victorian maiden going into a decline. Now? I'm happier than ever before, I enjoy my work, get a hell of a lot of satisfaction, it's all my own work and to boot I work from home, I spend time with my DS, have no childcare worries. You might like we did have to tighten the belt a little in the early stages but it's worth it and that feeling that Monday mornings are to be looked forward to and not dreaded - priceless!

[OneMoreForExtra]

Well done Sport. Stories like this make me think that one day I might be brave enough to do the same...

[neeniej9]

I did. I made the leap 9 years ago from being employed to going self employed as a telemarketer (and am looking for people to join my team so I can keep the business going whilst I have my first baby in Feb) and I haven't looked back. When you force yourself to sink or swim, you swim. Then you look back and wonder why you didn't do it sooner!

[sportinguista]

OneMOre I do have days when I think I am still going to fail and it's very hard work, but I wouldn't give it up now. Ironically I get approached about jobs a lot these days but I don't want to go back to company employment as I don't ever want to repeat the horrible experience. I get a glow when I am out and about on a sunny day or I sit down to work in my comfortable home office and I think of my bully boss and old colleagues slogging it out in the same old routine!