..... to ask if you left a job after many years, because you just new that "there has to be more to life than this" - how did you do it and what did you leave it to go and do?

[MumInTraining66]

I work for a good, large company. My manager is lovely, colleagues are really nice, and the pay is not bad, and decent annual leave allocation (you can see why I'm still there, right!!!!). However, I get no job satisfaction and every day I just think there must be a more rewarding way to spend my time". I am lucky as, since Covid, I have worked from home - so no commute (which is a big plus for me). It means I have flexibility to help my Mum (lives on her own and has dementia - still manageable) and be here for the kids. BUT I'm just completely unfulfilled. SO, I am just wondering how to make a change, for me and my family, that will mean I can still pay the bills. My husband, btw, has some mobility issues and works part time. I earn more than him and he does most of the childcare (ie taking to and picking up from school).

Just looking for some inspiring (possibly life-changing) stories. So, please, fire away. I'm all ears....................

Watching with interest - my job sounds like yours - love my boss and my team, and well thought of and respected, pays is okay (not anywhere near the MN 3 figures!), flexible working, manage my own case load, no commute most days as mainly working from home.

I LOVE my job I really do and it gives me a lot of satisfaction but it's stressful, demanding and emotionally draining - been there 26 years though! Considering a move or retraining.

I re-trained as a TEFL teacher and went self employed, much better.

That's interesting. I had an old friend from college who did that after college and has lived in Italy on the back of it for many years.

Yep. I hear ya ghostyslovesheets . Sometimes you feel that you should be grateful for all the positives, but at the end of the day I just think - I would love to be doing something that I really enjoy doing, or that is rewarding in some way.

I left the civil service for a job in the charity sector and am really happy. However, my parents died and I was able to absorb the pay cut thanks to the inheritance so was obviously fortunate to have that flexibility (not fortunate to have lost them of course!)

Given you have a young family with a DH with mobility issues I do suggest that your current reward is providing some stability and an income to support your family.

Maybe at a later date you could consider a more precarious approach in your search for fulfillment, because you will need to factor in 'it all going tits up' before you jump.

No experience to add that is more relevant, as I've not had any form of 'job security' since the 1970s like you and ghosty because I didn't prioritize that over fulfillment before unexpectedly being responsible for more people than me.

And, very possibly, I'm paying the price for that now; although j'regret rien.

I’m in my late 40’s and left my secure, well paying job because I hated every minute of it.

I returned to education, completed an Access to HE course at college, and I’m now completing an Adult Nursing degree.

it was the most terrifying but best decision I ever made.

I've just left my financial services office job of 11 years and started my training this year to become a nurse. It's early days but so far I'm loving it and really feel like this is what I'm meant to be doing with my life - I hope it continues!!

I left the civil service after 14 years.

I cannot believe I stayed for that long, but I didn’t know many people who’d resigned and I suppose it just didn’t feel like the done thing to leave. Everyone always says it’s such a great place to work (I read it on here all the time). Good pension, job security, sick leave, etc etc. I never enjoyed it but I always thought the problem was me.

I took a part-time job at a local company which fits around school hours. I enjoy it but the caveat is that I now earn less so without the savings/financial stability from my previous career I wouldn’t have been able to do it. And I won’t lie - my DH still earns well so it’s easier to absorb the financial hit.

I’m in the middle of this at the moment. I’ve been a teacher in the same school for 10 years but I was hating it and wishing I could have an accident to get some time away. I handed in my notice with nothing to go to. I’ve been doing agency supply work since and have had a few really good opportunities. I’m hopeful that one of them will be advertising a permanent job after Xmas that I can apply for as it reignited the passion I had lost. Downside is that I’ve taken a fairly big pay cut to do this and no sick pay or pension contributions.
It’s obviously better than hitting a tree with my car though!

I worked for five years in hospitality management after university. 4* corporate-type hotels, mainly. The hours were ridiculous (70+ per week, & often only 1 day off) and the salary was a joke. It could be ridiculously stressful because most of the staff were paid minimum wage & didn’t give a toss, so management had to fill in when they didn’t show up as well as doing our own jobs.

The job obliterated my social life and cost me a relationship. That was the last straw, and I walked out without another job to to. I got a job in a call centre in a different industry and suddenly I had my life back. The job provided an excellent grounding in the industry, good training and opportunities to move on & progress to various areas of the business. I’m still in the industry today, and have absolutely no regrets about leaving hospitality. The only regret is that I sacrificed much of my 20s to it & didn’t get out sooner.

I was a DV advisor for 11 years and came away highly stressed and burnt out. I discovered care work - agency - and you can earn money if you put the hours in. I did mental health hospitals and adored it. I'm changing now tho as was assaulted and that wasn't very nice.

I do think, if you hate your day to day at work, you have to change it. I wish I'd known that one of the best places I worked at was literally half a mile through the woods on this A road I barely knew existed, and I wouldn't have had to spend on petrol up to London and could have worked the odd Saturday to make up the £ shortfall. I was an activities coordinator there and took people out in my car all day long, and did cooking and art with them. And we had music on all the time as they all loved that.

It really did come down to this - if ONLY I'd known about that place. I was so scared to make the jump, but so glad I did in the end, Life is too short to feel angst for a job you once loved.

Glad you found a better job that makes you happy.
But, sorry about your parents.

Bless you - glad you didn't have an accident.
Good luck for the future. Im sure it will all work out. Youve been very brave.

Yes I left a “great job” in my 20s as I just couldn’t cope with seeing the life trajectory it offered but I’ve never ever regretted it. I had a great time doing all sorts of things before settling again pre-kids in another long term role. However I’ve been able to move around roles every 3-4years. Now I’ve just shifted my head that the job pays the bills and I do the minimum hours required and get my fun outside the job. I don’t need my job to fulfill me, so maybe seeing how you can create time outside your job to meet your needs in other ways could help.

I think it's important to feel fulfillment in life. Some of us get that through our jobs and some of us have jobs that support us getting it elsewhere eg hobbies, family etc. I left corporate work and am now self-employed doing something I love. The work and the flexibility are amazing, I don't get stressed/anxious nearly as much and I don't get bored. No Sunday night blues ever. I miss colleagues and the financial rewards and security.

I left a secure, easy but extremely dull job (I would actually cry from boredom) to retrain as a primary teacher. I was only able to do this due to receiving an inheritance so could afford to take year on student finance. I'm not a primary teacher any more though but I do love the job I do now.

I left to do the same job elsewhere... cop out I know!

But I started the new job determined to keep work separate and am militant on working my hours/taking breaks/not contactable outside of working.

This let me focus on stuff outside of work and I feel so much more me because of it. I'm in finance/tech and I think it's safe to say its never going to be a vocation, but now it doesn't encroach of my personal life I am far more relaxed and happy to bubble along.

I sometimes think I'd like to have a vocation not a career, but happy to settle for never dreading work and sticking to a 35 hour week!

Following with interest as I am in a similar situation. I sit in every meeting thinking I just don't care, this is not important! Problem is I can't really afford a paycut right now so feel very stuck.

I'm going to go off on a tangent here. I know quite a few women now in their 40s who left dull office jobs and retrained as teachers, midwives etc approx 10 years ago. I would say only about 30% of them are still in these jobs having burnt out and have now gone back to office work. I work in healthcare and still like my job, but I'm very senior so can pick and choose what I do.

What is most fulfilling for me is my hobbies. It took a longtime to realise work is something I do, it doesn't define me. Everything about your job screams don't leave. Maybe look at a side hustle or something more interesting that isn't work related.

I left a high paid prestigious job with nice people, in the private sector, because I was incredibly bored and wanted a more ethical career.

Moved to the civil service.

The people were backstabbing or lazy (or both), the work was not in fact any more ethical or interesting, and the pay was shit.

Tread with care OP… I really miss that first job but I can’t get it back.

I was a senior accountant in the public sector, and miserable. Earned well, flexible, worked with the kids. But. There just had to be more to life.

I jacked it in to be a housewife. 10 years down the line, life is good.

my marriage improved, because the house became my job so there was no longer a battle. Weekends were freed up for family time, because I could do the housework during the week without impacting anybody else.

our health improved, because I was able to make nutritious, delicious meals.

I am happier, my kids get to come home to me every day rather than be in childcare until late.

I was lucky that my husband earned enough for me to quit, and some days I do wonder what I’m going to do when the children don’t need me any more. But for now it works.

Following! I am feeling exactly the same and have been for the past 3 years.

This is a great lesson in how if it gets that bad, if you are brave enough to leave and are determined to find something, you will definitely end up in a better place. Well done you!

So funny you saying that as I only said to my husband the other day that there is most likely something, possibly not far away - maybe even on the next street that would be ideal for me - that maybe someone is sitting there right now thinking, "If only I could hire someone who could........" but we just dont know the other exists. OR maybe I could do something for myself but the penny hasn't yet dropped on what that one thing is.

Hence, this post, and I'm loving being inspired by all of your stories. Thank you. 🙏