When it’s time to resign from a job, people tend to fall into one of two camps: those who can’t wait to tell their boss they’re leaving, and those who feel tremendously guilty about quitting, as if their resignation will be a betrayal of their colleagues.
If you’re in the first camp, you probably find this hard to understand. This is business, after all, and it’s normal to move on from jobs. But if you’re in the second camp, knowing it’s reasonable to leave doesn’t necessarily make it easier to do.
For people who feel enormous guilt about quitting, the emotional weight of leaving can keep them stuck in jobs they dislike — sometimes for far longer than is good for them. Understanding why that guilt exists, and recognizing that prioritizing your own career is not a betrayal of the people you work with, is often the first step toward making a move that’s right for you.
