Why I Read the Book
Quitter, written by Jon Acuff, speaks to the unsatisfied employee wondering if there’s more to life than a job that doesn’t quite fit. Though I am currently a stay-at-home mom, I’ve been an unsatisfied employee at a couple of different jobs. And here’s what I mean by unsatisfied:
- I would sometimes wake up depressed that I had to go into work.
- I would peruse Monster.com for other opportunities.
- I would often give myself a speech about how fortunate I was to have a good job (which was true).
- I would feel trapped and not know what to do about it.
I didn’t jump on the Quitter bandwagon when the book first came out because I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for almost two years. And that’s not a job I have any desire to quit. But I finally read the book after understanding from Jon’s blog that it didn’t just speak to the unsatisfied employee, but also to the person that has a dream they would like to fulfill and very little time to make it happen.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned once or a hundred times that being a mom takes a lot of hard work and energy, more than I ever thought possible. So I was eager to read something that I hoped would encourage me to keep the flame of my dream burning.
What I loved
Quitter, to my surprise, read much like a story rather than a typical non-fiction book. I enjoyed seeing the story play out and don’t want to ruin it for you, so I’ll share a few key points:
- Jon encourages us to get realistic about financial needs.
- Jon gives some pointers to help us recognize our dreams.
- Jon encourages us to keep plugging away at working out our dreams without expecting overnight success.
- Jon reminds us to hustle in a balanced way.
What I didn’t love so much
I loved so much about Quitter that it’s hard to come up with a negative. But if I had to choose an area for improvement, I’d say that I wish that there had been stories of other “quitters”. If he mentioned others, I can’t recall them now (it’s been a couple of weeks since I read the book). So much of the book was about his personal story that it may not have made sense to give other people’s stories.
The Verdict
I loved the book and plan to re-read it.
Read Quitter if you have a dream that you would like to fulfill, or are wondering if there’s a dream somewhere inside you.
Don’t read it if you’re just looking for justification for quitting your job.
