- Should you quit your job?
Hi there, I'm Sabrina from Answer In Progress,
where we make videos, taking people on the journey
from question to answer.
In this video, we speak with a motivation expert
and assess our lives in search of meaning
and work life balance.
(playful music)
In April, 2021, four million people
in the United States quit their jobs.
Millions more have changed careers or even industries
in what is now being called The Great Resignation.
Should we join them?
To answer that question, I had to ask for some help.
- My name's Richard Ryan, I'm a professor
at the Institute for Positive Psychology
in Sydney, Australia and I've been a long time researcher
on human motivation and the things that, you know,
why people do what they do and what sustains them over time.
- Millions of people have quit their jobs.
They calling it the great resignation.
Why do you think people are doing that?
Is there something about the pandemic?
- You know, clearly there's multiple causes
for the great resignation.
We certainly heard a lot of anecdotal evidence
about that and you know people looking for more meaning
and more purpose in their workplace
and something more fulfilling
and I do think the pandemic has something to do with it,
after you've sat around through a period like this,
you start to wonder what's really worth it.
What am I really up to with my life?
Am I spending my time in the right kind of ways
and I think people asking those
more existential questions that has led some people
to think I wanna do this differently.
- The past year saw one of the biggest increases
in the Consumer Price Index since 1982.
So it's no surprise that people are seeking higher pay
and when time is money,
better work life balance is another major consideration.
However, there is another somewhat surprising cause to quit
that you may not have considered, meaning.
Work is one of the most common sources of meaning
for adults around the world and a search for more meaning
is a major reason why people may consider a career change.
- So I think when people are saying they want
meaningful work, they want something where they can,
you know, they want to be investing their energy
and their time because they either see a good outcome
at the end of it, or they enjoy that process.
The kind of jobs that they would be leaving
in that situation are ones where either the work
has no intrinsic enjoyment for them
or they don't see it doing good for the world.
- [Sabrina] There are many ways to define meaning
and meaningful work.
One option is self-determination theory.
- Self-determination theory has really been a broad theory
about human wellness and thriving
and what it is that leads people to thrive
and we try to see what are the basic ingredients
that you need and some of those, of course, are physical
but you also need some psychological nutriments
and that's why we came down to autonomy, competence
and relatedness 'cause across cultures
and across all ages and across all kind of work situations,
those three needs always pop out to the top
and so what we try to identify is, you know, how variations
in your ability to experience autonomy, for instance,
at work or relatedness at work,
or competence at work affects your wellness
and your productivity and your energy and your vitality.
- [Sabrina] The theory states that all humans
have three basic psychological needs, autonomy, competence
and relatedness.
In the context of our work, that means that we feel
like we are in control of our Workday.
This doesn't mean we don't need management
but rather management trusts us to do our jobs.
We feel like we can actually do our job well.
Our skills match our task and we have access to training
if there's any missing knowledge
and finally we feel like we belong.
Team members celebrate victories and mourn losses together
without the hyper competitiveness.
- The theory's really about that
and the basic needs are the pathway.
- With that knowledge in mind,
I designed a framework to analyze my life
and career using self-determination theory.
If that sounds useful to you, be sure to subscribe
and hit the notification bell because this channel
is all about empowering us to level up our careers.
Anyway, I made this survey
based off of self-determination theory.
It's basically a series of questions
to consider where our current job fits into our lives.
So grab a pen, a loose piece of paper or your journal
and let's walk through this together.
Question one, who are you right now?
I am Sabrina, I am 23 years old
and through a series of existential crises,
I went from studying math in university
to running the video production company
that is making this show.
I don't know how it happened either.
So I guess my job is confused.
No, I'm gonna say video producer.
Now the purpose of this question is to get you to reflect
on your current circumstances.
It'll also be a neat reference point
if you keep this page for the future.
Anyway, question two.
How much control do you feel you have in your day?
Starting off with a tough one.
I'd say on a scale of five, I'm about a two.
Listen I'm self-employed and that is awesome
because I can take days off and I don't need to feel guilty
if I take an afternoon nap, however, there is a downside.
Everything feels like it can make or break the business
which means that oftentimes the rest of my life
gets put on hold to make sure that problems are solved
and deadlines are met.
There is an embarrassing amount of groceries in my fridge
that have gone bad because I worked too long
and forgot to schedule time to cook them.
Two out of five.
Question three, how prepared do you feel
for your responsibilities?
Surprisingly enough, I'd say that's about
a four out of five.
I know, I studied math and obviously that didn't directly
prepare me for video production and entrepreneurship.
Luckily there are countless resources out there,
like Grow With Google workshops
and Google Career certificates.
So despite the many gaps I had in my knowledge,
I was able to fill them
and I'm pretty confident that I can do it again.
Question four, how much community
do you feel with your coworkers?
That is an easy five out of five
and not just because I know
that they're watching this video.
Everybody that I've had the pleasure of working with
is passionate about making learning more accessible.
Whether it's about ourselves, our world,
our past, our future.
It is just wholesome, you know, I'd call that a community.
Finally, question number five.
How much do you look forward to working?
This is probably the toughest one for me,
If I think about it, I like my job.
I like what I do, but it's just that it sometimes
takes so much of me that other parts of my life lose out.
Seeing friends, seeing family, exercising,
maintaining a regular sleep schedule.
So if I'm being totally honest, it's a two out of five.
Okay, let's take a look at our score.
If you've been following along with me
and your score is less than 15 points
I'd really encourage you to look at
your lowest scoring answers
and try and understand what that means
for your relationship with your work.
That's because these questions tied
to our basic psychological needs.
Autonomy, preparedness, relatedness and work life balance.
Let's see here.
I got one, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine,
10, 11, 12, 13.
Ooh, just looking at all of my answers,
I could see that I can do my job
and I like who I do it with.
However, I'm really lacking in terms of autonomy
and work life balance.
It's that joke of I traded my nine to five
for the 24/7 of self-employment.
So does that mean I have to quit my job?
- You know, I guess I'm not a great person to speak
on work life balance, I'm not sure I've ever achieved that.
When I think things are out of balance that usually it means
that I'm being driven to do things I'm not wanting to do.
Something's awry in my autonomy, diagnosing that situation,
figuring out what it is, that's impinging
on your need satisfaction, and then either changing it
within the workplace that you are or moving on.
(gentle music)
- So should you quit your job?
That is a difficult question
and it can depend on anything from finances to family.
However, I hope that this self-determination survey
helps you better understand what you like about your work
and what you might want to change or fix in this job
or the next.
If you feel unprepared,
check out Grow with Google's website,
it is loaded with a bunch of tools and resources
to learn new skills.
If you lack community, ask your coworkers out to lunch,
allies are out there, even if they might be tough to find.
Finally, if you're anything like me
and you have no semblance of work life balance,
I think it's time that we accept
that it's about acknowledging our limits,
drawing boundaries and sticking to them.
Yes, you might lose out on some things
but you're gonna gain in others,
that is what balance is all about
and it might help the both of us from burning out of a job
we really love, good luck.
♪ It's the money ♪
Whether you are totally happy with your current job
or you're looking for a new one, be sure to catch
the rest of this series, where we're talking about
making the most of your career capital, skill building
and making time to learn.
Subscribe and hit the notification bell
so you don't miss it.
But while you wait, check out Grow with Google's website
to grow your skills, career and business.
Thanks for watching.