The dawn of The Great Resignation is all around us. A Microsoft report called “The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work — Are We Ready?” reveals that 41% of the entire global workforce may be considering resigning from their jobs.
There is a certain narrative, ranging from how quitting is the fault of the workplace to the phenomenon of “turnover contagion” and rage quitting, that is beginning to crop up as a means to explain why there has been a mass resignation from the labor market.
The narrative seems to teeter somewhere between wanting to pin the blame on someone or something for this transition to the idea that quitting is merely a phase and employees will be back.
But why does there need to be an explanation? We live in a world where the typical person has six to seven careers in their lifetime — and that number is growing. If we are changing, and we know what we currently do doesn’t necessarily excite us or meet our needs anymore, there is nothing wrong with moving on for an opportunity that is a better fit.
Kate Johnston is a Certified Habit Coach, MS, PA-C at Kate M. Johnston Coaching LLC. I named this article based off what Johnston told her colleagues and friends when she announced she was leaving her job as a Physician Assistant for 15 years.
Johnston, who was content in her former role, explained that leaving didn’t mean she was unfulfilled or unhappy. “You don’t have to be miserable in your career to change. You just have to have the desire for growth and exploration.” Johnston says.
She decided to start a business as a Certified Habit Coach. In this role, Johnston helps career women reverse their bad eating habits. Now, she works from her home office alongside her dog.
Johnston, who is still in the health and wellness industry, finds there is a great joy in being able to serve people in a different way than she did before. She gets to help women in a manner she finds is empowering to them. The same friends and colleagues who were confused as to why she left her job are now curious. Are these opportunities available to them? Can they explore another career too?
The answer is yes! Johnston makes a strong point in adding that you can decide to change anytime. She was a former Physician Assistant. Now she’s a solopreneur. In another five years, she may embrace a new title in her career or return to a former role.
“Going back is always an option, and you don’t have to be unhappy in order to leave,” Johnston says.
“You can always re-decide a year from now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now. You are just trying new things, and that’s what is required for growth.”