Why you should always have a notice of termination ready

Like every morning, he is opening his word document, adjusts the date and saves his termination notice. He never turns it in. But the feeling of being ready to leave any time relaxes his mind when the pressure gets on in the project. It‘s his daily reminder that each job and task is temporary and that the power of ending any business situation is in his hands.

Feeling in control and being aware that there are always options is an important factor when it comes down to feeling well at work. Maybe you know the feeling of being stuck. It quickly turns into a damned and doomed scenario where it is hard to get up in the morning. Promotions seem impossible in these moments – and most likely, your displayed mindset at work lets people refrain from promoting you.

Interestingly, most stuck people have a lot of good reasons why they cannot change the situation. Their narrative keeps them in their misery. When you talk to them, you hear a lot about other peoples faults and a long list of ‚why nots‘.

Unfortunately, the way out of being stuck starts with you and the necessity to acknowledge that you actually can do something about your current situation. At least you can change your thoughts, mood, reactions and words. A kick starter to do that might be the ready-to-use termination notice on your laptop. It will change your perspective immediately. All of a sudden you are not forced to stay in the job but you actively decide to keep the job one more day by not handing in your notice.

Once you have a bit more space in your mind, you might even want to explore new options for the next few years in your career. Apply for interesting positions, get an understanding what your market value is, find new skills to aquire … once you start looking with a new perspective, you will see opportunities everywhere. And then, you can actively decide whether to stay where you are or change positions.