Why you should have the courage

For several years I have been following a motto: “Love it, change it or leave it!” You should change what you don’t love. And if it can’t be changed, you should leave it behind. In my experience, you get ahead in life with this attitude. It’s pretty much impossible to stay put for too long or come to terms with unpleasant things. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a disappointing friendship, a love that has gone cold or a demotivating job.

If it no longer fits and there is no way out, it means for me – and certainly for many other readers – to move on. Hesse wrote in his poem “Steps” appropriately: “And there is magic in every beginning.”

Too often, however, people remain in the status quo. The big but drives them. Without a plan B, they don’t take a step – for example at work: quit without having a new job? That’s not possible! Let’s put it this way: it works. Even if it is of course more reassuring to already have something up your sleeve during the termination, it does not necessarily have to be the case.

What’s more, sometimes it’s even better not to have a plan B and to quit the job anyway. Because if you suddenly stop pedaling in the hamster wheel, you suddenly get a new perspective on the essentials and can ask yourself seriously existential questions: Who am I? And what do I actually want?

“Firing without a plan B is often accompanied by fear.”

This sounds like a joke to many people whose lives are flanked by obligations. The job in particular is not always so easy to shake off. Many people are up to their ears in the wage trap. You have a family to feed or a loan to raise – sometimes even both. But that’s often not the reason why they don’t just quit. On closer inspection, they would even do it if they had just a few savings.

The argument is of course perfectly legitimate. And yet I would also advise these people not to let their fears stop them for too long. There are ways for them too – a termination agreement or a financial cushion for the first three months offer a minimum of security.

Quitting without a plan B is often accompanied by fear. However, I believe that most fears are only partially true and very few people really regret their decision afterwards. Because one thing is clear: those who are in “Leave it” mode often have a long ordeal behind them. However, as soon as the fear of being fired has been overcome, you finally have a clear head to think about a new career path.

And if you leave your old job and then have a few weeks to yourself, you can recharge your batteries and tackle deferred tasks without a tight framework. In short: such a termination usually has an enormously cleansing character.

“We should happily walk through room after room. Clinging to no one like a home,” reads another line in Hesse’s famous poem. It says that a full life always brings changes. And change always requires courage. Nobody can simply implant this courage to change in you. Everyone has to raise it themselves.

It is understandable that this is not always easy. But if you can’t come to terms with the circumstances or change them, you have to go. Even if that sometimes means not having a plan B. In life it is often like this: the more lavish the plans blossom, the more tricky the deed becomes. Life is what happens while you’re making plans.