Episode 67: Would You Rather Quietly Quit, or Live on Purpose?
I always resented all the years, the hours, the
minutes I gave them as a working stiff, it
actually hurt my head, my insides, it made me
dizzy and a bit crazy — I couldn’t understand the
murdering of my years
yet my fellow workers gave no signs of
agony, many of them even seemed satisfied, and
seeing them that way drove me almost as crazy as
the dull and senseless work.
Charles Bukowski, American Poet
It’s so funny now how quickly themes and topics rise and fall on the interwebs bringing forth discussion, arguments, debates, judgment, snarky sniping and lots of hashtags.
Quiet Quitting is the newest thing I’ve been seeing, and like so many other issues today people seem to quickly organize themselves into 2 camps on an issue. Is it good, or is it bad? From a guy who lived what I feel like was a half life for the first 40 something years of my life…quiet quitting scars our souls and robs us of OUR precious lives. Henry David Thoreau said “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.” I remember reading that with the sting of knowing that is what I was doing, but I didn’t believe that I could or deserved any better.
“From a guy who lived what I feel like was a half life for the first 40 something years of my life…quiet quitting scars our souls and robs us of OUR precious lives.”
At the same time, American corporate culture has more than quietly quit the teams of people it needs to survive. Expecting no work life balance, no boundaries, and a pizza lunch to make up for eeking out a living while the CEO and upper management are raking in ridiculous incomes and will lay off thousands if needed to cut costs and keep their bonus. Casual Friday and Employee of the Month awards were supposed to make up for no real vacation time and being held captive at your employer by your health insurance. Because of how so many companies treat their employees, I can understand where this comes from…but it’s toxic for EVERYONE.
For me, when I find myself in anything that I’ve quietly quit or I’m in a relationship, friendship situation that has quietly quit ME, I set a goal to fix it or remove myself from that as quickly as possible. Immediately when possible. With this mindset, I’ve deconstructed virtually every aspect of my life in the last decade, and you can too.
What is Quiet Quitting?
An article by Axios described it as “performing only the tasks they’re required to, giving up on going “above and beyond,"”. Other posts I’ve seen have described it as “acting your wage”. That is doing the work you work hired or contracted to do and no more. Still others describe it as doing the bare minimum to not get fired.
So, is this a good thing? A bad thing?!
Listen now to dive into this and let me know your thoughts.