Why I’ll Never Go Back to the Corporate World
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I occasionally take a break from my normal guitar-related content to share pieces of my story. This article details my experience leaving the corporate world. I hope it helps those of you who are on a similar journey. -Jon
On the morning of January 15, 2021, I drove into my job as a quality manager for a small manufacturing company. A few hours later, I drove home as yet another casualty of the global Covid economic shutdown.
My fifteen-year corporate career ended that day with a manila folder and a long drive home. This singular event led to drastic changes in my life and career — way more than I could cover in a single article. But one of the main threads in my story since then has been my opportunity to change careers.
Burnout is real, and it sucks
At the time I was let go, I was incredibly burned out. I never intended to have a career in quality management, but like so many things in life, an opportunity fell into my lap when I needed it. I took the job because I needed the money; I never thought it would turn into a career. So for a decade and a half, I did the corporate thing as a way to make money and provide for my family.
But after the first 10 years, I began to experience the effects of burnout: the sense of dread on Sunday night; feeling like each minute spent at my cubicle was sucking an hour of my life away; the constant desire to be doing anything besides what I was doing. For several years, I literally prayed every morning on the drive into work that I would be able to quit that day. Later on, I would look back and see all the signs of depression.
For several years, I literally prayed every morning on the drive into work that I would be able to quit that day.
So when that rainy January day in 2021 finally came, I had no idea what the future would hold, but I knew one thing: I would never step foot in an office building again unless there was absolutely no other alternative.
These are my reasons why.
I was tired of being a number
1733889.
