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A Job You Hate Can Teach You So Much
If you’re willing to learn, a bad job can set you on a path to a better future
I’d dreamed of leaving while on hour-long commutes, through psycho supervisors, a corporate merger, and a pandemic. And after four long years, it finally happened. Last month, I quit my job at the bank.
I joined the Great Resignation for a job that offered more flexibility, freedom, and more money. I’d love to say I planned the whole thing. But as Steve Jobs said in his famous speech, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.”
As hard as it was to see while I was working there, the job I hated put me on the path to a better future. If you’re willing, you can learn a lot from a job you hate. Here’s how to make the most of it while you’re waiting to move forward.
Make an investment
A job you hate doesn’t only make you miserable for eight hours a day, it negatively affects the rest of your life. One reason this happens is because you invest so much energy into frustration, resentment, and hate. Soon, you’re wallowing in self-pity about how hard your life is, and that outlook bleeds over into everything.
