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What I learned from people who hate their jobs but will never leave
I’ve worked 7 different office jobs around the world — in New York, London, Hong Kong, and Melbourne. And along the way, I met countless people who hated their jobs, but most of them had one thing in common: they had no intention of ever leaving.
They said things like this:
“This is the worst job I’ve ever had, but what if I don’t get another one?”
“It’s so hard to apply for jobs when you have a full-time job.”
“You can’t leave one job before getting another one.”
“I always wanted to be a painter, but everyone knows you can’t make any money that way.”
“It’s alright for them, running their own business, but I could never do anything like that.”
It wasn’t a lack of talent
Meeting people from around the world has taught me something: there’s no lack of talent out there. I’ve met countless people who excel in the creative arts, at project management, at…