[notjustanymike]

Quitting to quit working is a different feeling. You may spend time in the first month untangling your role and your ego. I had no idea how important the status was to me until I was just a guy, at home, that no one needed. It was a valuable lesson about self worth, and one that stayed around after I rejoined the work force.

[codingdave]

"Untangling your ego" - Thank you for verbalizing that. I've not been working for almost 2 months now, and there has definitely been a process of disconnecting from who I was when working to who I am when I am mostly free to do whatever I want for a few months/years.

I've been trying to express to other people who have lost jobs that this is the positive side of it: Letting go of it all, thinking about who you really are and where you really want your life to go before making decisions on your next move. I'm trying to encourage people to take time to go through this process before just jumping straight into new efforts.

Like the article said, good ideas can sound bad, and bad ideas can sound good, so those of us who have the luxury of living in limbo for a while should take this as a golden opportunity to let all that shake out before committing to a new direction.

[notjustanymike]

It was an important lesson for me to learn. I read "Ego is the Enemy" by Ryan Holiday, which covered a lot of these thoughts, and helped me understand why I worked.

What happened later was also interesting. I rejoined the workforce, matched and then quickly surpassed the level I'd left, and did in part because I'd decided to be who I wanted to be instead of what I thought the role dictated I should be.

[tessierashpool9]

your employer doesn't need you ... or did the company go broke after you left? your employer uses you. big difference. your parents, your friends, your siblings, your pets need you. think about it.

[jhanschoo]

The role parent comment is talking about isn't necessarily tied to an employer. They can be built of external expectations on e.g. what your career path and role should be.

[2-3-7-43-1807]

parent is connecting self-worth with his work ... very bad :/

[jarsin]

>I had no idea how important the status was to me until I was just a guy, at home, that no one needed.

Interesting, considering that every company goes to great lengths to let everyone know they are easily replaceable and not needed.

[notjustanymike]

I'd say that's a bit nihilist. There are certainly companies I've worked for (and now work for) where there is genuine care for the individual baked into the culture, though it does tend to scale inversely with size.

[ziddoap]

They need someone in the position. When you are that particular someone, you are needed.

That doesn't mean you can't be replaced.