I Would Quit My Job in a Heartbeat to Start a Non-Profit

The time has come for me to admit I am not happy at my job.

At the age of 17 and while in my second semester in university, I have carefully crafted a 10-year career plan for myself. It applied to both career and education, as I was hoping to balance both at the same time, and had pretty reasonable expectations. I wasn’t worried I would overwhelm myself and fail — the plan was quite lenient and possible to achieve.

I turn 27 this September, which means I’m almost at the end of my long-term plan. When you tell older and more experienced people about your life and career goals as a teenager, they usually smirk and reply:

“Sure, honey, keep coming up with cute ideas.”

Life throws a lot at you, which causes most of us to change course and completely re-shape our plans and dreams. But guess what? I’m exactly at the end of my journey.

I deviated from my plan a little bit, but it was more about me making a slight change, which I haven’t considered while coming up with this plan initially. I would have been perfectly fine, making a significant change — nothing is set in stone, and I would have taken a better opportunity had it presented itself. But no! Everything went pretty smoothly, despite multiple hardships and dozens of complications.

I Achieved Everything I Planned. Now What?

If you’ve never met anyone who developed a 10-year-long advancement plan shortly after finishing high school and accomplishing everything they wanted — here I am! Look at me; I’m special! Look at me. I’m amazing! I’m hardworking, purposeful and goal-oriented! Here’s a kicker: I’m also miserable.

I can’t entirely blame myself for this feeling of misery. I can’t blame the circumstances either. The main reason I’m unhappy right now is that I ended up working for a company with questionable morals and tendencies to take advantage of people. This is most likely the main contributor to my unhappiness. But despite the roots of the cause, I’m still dissatisfied where I ended up.

The solution is brutally simple: switch jobs. I need to collect myself together, regroup, update my resume, and look for a new home. If I land at a company with a better reputation and work ethics, I know for a fact I’ll be significantly happier. There’s only one issue that still stands: I’m not sure if that would be enough.

If I land at a company with a better reputation and work ethics, I know for a fact I’ll be significantly happier.

All I’ve Ever Wanted Was to Make a Difference

Many of us dream of changing the environment we live in. We wish to make an impact on the world we live in, to contribute to everyone’s well-being and move in the right direction. It can be done through volunteering or developing a new way to solve an old problem, or by starting a charity and making a positive change in the community. But it can be as simple as getting a meaningful job and coming into work every day thinking we’re making a real difference.

Doctors save lives. Environmentalists save the planet. Human rights attorneys correct the unfortunate mistakes that were done by bad people. Teachers educate the young generation. And I’m none of those things. I help rich companies become richer and poor people become poorer. I do a simple job and earn a paycheque, and in addition to that paycheque, I get a lingering feeling of unfulfillment.

The power of lying and self-convincing knows no boundaries.

I feel like I’m not using my full potential, nor am I doing anything meaningful. Some people are okay with this being the case, or at least they forced themselves to adapt. Alternatively, we can try lying to ourselves, saying we like our jobs. The power of lying and self-convincing knows no boundaries.

I Would Take a Pay Cut if My New Job Had a Meaning

I recently started reading a book called The Quarter-Life Breakthrough by Adam Smiley Poswolsky, and I realized the following: this book is the reflection of my life! It describes in detail what I’m currently feeling and what I should do to make a change. One of the fascinating discoveries I made while reading the book was that, according to the studies, 15% of the millennial generation would accept a pay cut if it meant getting a job with a purpose as opposed to keeping working in a meaningless career field. It resonated with me on so many levels.

Despite having a lot of student debt, I would have accepted a pay cut if, in exchange, I get a job that allows me to change the world for the best. I want to feel happy when I wake up in the morning and to leave the office with a feeling of accomplishment. So… How do I do it?

15% of the millennial generation would accept a pay cut if it meant getting a job with a purpose as opposed to keeping working in a meaningless career field.

Finding Employment at a Start-Up is Not a Piece of Cake

Once you decide to change your goals, all you must do is come up with a new plan and follow it. Right? Wrong. It’s easy, theoretically speaking, but in practice, there are many pitfalls. In my case, I’m not even sure what is that I would like to do, which sector I am moving towards, or what kind of a start-up I wish to work for. Is it going to be a for-profit start-up or a non-profit one? Or should I consider charitable organizations instead? Am I choosing to work in my field, or am I trying out a completely unrelated one? So many questions, so little answers.

I decided to take baby steps towards my goal. So, I want to work for a start-up — let’s find one. I googled start-ups in my city and discovered an upsetting fact: there were almost none in my field of study. Most start-ups I found were in the tech industry, with health studies taking the second place. Unfortunately, my level of expertise in those fields is at zero, so I didn’t find too many options for myself.

There’s always an opportunity to work remotely. Right? Wrong! Some start-ups do offer a remove work environment, but when I was searching for opportunities, there were almost none. It was pre-coronavirus, so maybe that has changed at this point. However, back then, it wasn’t looking too good for me.

Start Small and Find Something You Love

I have a trait that makes my life difficult sometimes: I tent to over-complicate things. I come up with a long list of issues that don’t even exist, and then I overthink every single one of them. By the end of the day, here I am, spiraling down the desperation wormhole.

The truth is that it doesn’t have to be hard. All I need to do is to come up with an idea. I need to find something that makes me happy, that drives me, that makes me passionate. For me, the priority has always been to help people. That kind of goal opens numerous opportunities.

For example, I have always wanted to start a non-profit which would provide homeless shelters with clothes and toiletries. Based on my research, there is a demand for such an organization in my city. Nothing is more fulfilling than helping vulnerable populations with basic needs while they are rebuilding their lives and finding their way back to the community.

The idea doesn’t have to be grand. It doesn’t have to be explosive or unique. It can be incredibly simple yet meaningful. I’m now in the process of reviewing the legal side of things and figuring out how to register a non-profit. The current events may present specific barriers, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, I’m following my dreams by taking one step at a time.

The idea doesn’t have to be grand. It doesn’t have to be explosive or unique. It can be incredibly simple yet meaningful.