What is the Great Resignation and what does it have to do with finding your WHY? Episode 68

What is the Great Resignation? What does that have to do with me? The economy and people finding out why we're going to talk about this and more on today's episode. Welcome to the Okiki Podcast. My name is Fiyin Obayan, and if you're new to seeing my content and you're seeing me on YouTube, be sure to subscribe.

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So today we're going to talk about the great resignation. The Great Resignation isn't as great as it sounds. I'm sure in the headline tablets in the sense that it is only 4% of the population in North America, but that 4% is actually pretty significant. That is about 23 million people quitting their job. So this is really affecting the corporate world.

This is really affecting them. There is higher turnover rates than ever before. Companies are kind of scrambling to try and figure out why are these people leaving and some of them are leaving really high paying jobs. Some of them are leaving those high paying jobs for even lower income. So what exactly is going on here?

I have a theory, and I think it has to do with people finding their WHY now? Simon Sinek is an expert in this space, so I won't even pretend to be on his level when it comes to this topic. But what I do know is that when people have time and space reflect, that is really when a lot of things come to the surface. I know that's what's been happening for me and so many other people that I've talked to. Sometimes things that you've been doing for so long, you're just doing because that's what you had to do, right.

But I think in reflecting and the lifestyle change that we have all gone through, more people being at home or closer to their families or just changing perspectives, right? People have a chance to really think about is this situation I'm in really what I like to do, really? What I love to do is this where I can see myself being an existing in the next one year, three years or five years. And if it's none of those things, then why am I doing it? And so people are going through all that reflective process and really starting to reconsider some of these staple items that we just kind of took for granted, like going to work every day like, oh, I just have to do it.

I have to earn income. Maybe there's another way to go about it, right? Maybe there's more than just earning that income. So are you in that head space. I would like to know.

Let me know in the comments. Are you someone who is in that 4% that are like, yes, I'm quitting my job tomorrow and I need to find something new that really speaks to me or are you in that the rest of the 90% of you who are like, yeah, I'm doing my job, all right. And I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. I'd love to know in the comments. Let me know.

But continuing on this topic for those of you who are in that 4%, how do you begin that process to finding your WHY? Well, here are some tips that I've picked up from many resources, like I mentioned before, Simon Sinek being one of them. And one of them is to really think about what keeps you up at night, like what genuinely keeps you up at night. And what do you think about what are you passionate about? What is something that you wish you could contribute to?

That could be a really good place to start for some people who just genuinely just feel lost as to what they're going after and why they're going after it. Another thing to think about is what can you or would you do without any payment? And it might actually surprise you. I know personally, the past two years, I've been pretty surprised by how passionate I discovered I am about nonprofits.

It's really strange because I'm definitely someone who for me personally, I barely wanted to write a scholarship because I just didn't feel like putting in the work, right? I was just like, you know what? Let me just go to University, whatever. I don't even want to write this essay. That is literally how I was in high school and different spaces.

But I found that when it came to nonprofits that are supporting a cause, all of a sudden, I'm helping them write grants or trying to find resources or whatever I can do to make sure that thing comes to life. And that was a surprise to me. Honestly speaking, that is not how I thought I was wired, but that is one of the things that has come to light is that I really do care about the work that nonprofits do, and so that is something that's come up.

And sometimes it can be something like that, right? People can be multi passionate for sure. So it's definitely not in terms of me as an individual, my main thing. But it's something that I know from here on out, no matter what capacity, whether I'm volunteering, whether I'm donating, I will always have something to do with the nonprofit that's doing good work. I've learned that about myself in the past two years.

Another thing could be what are your strengths? So a lot of reasons why people might be leaving is that maybe they are operating in something they did get a College degree for something that they are good at. But is it really their strength? Is it their super strength? Right.

Maybe it's something they did because they knew it would pay the bills, which is obviously a great thing to do when you want to take care of your family and use all sorts of things. And of course, you can learn. You can always learn. You can always grow. But is it something that's so different than your aptitude that it almost seems foreign to you that you're like, why am I here?

Why am I in this space? This could happen in so many capacities. I've noticed that even in my work, I've talked to people whose jobs might be very different than what I do with the creative, with video editing, but they really actually want to be involved in what I'm doing as well. They want to be part of the process. They want to see all the creative part so much so that they're willing to do it on their own time.

That's really cool, too. You might be surprised that you might actually have something that you really like and whether or not distinguish between whether it's a hobby or a passion is really like, how often do you find yourself going to that thing when you really should be doing something else? That might be an indicator of what you like and finding your WHY and another indicator.

Another exercise that would help you with this is finding out your strength. So finding out your personality type, do all those personality and your strengths and really figuring out often it's like wearing a glove that fits right. So if it's missing some of those components that really make up who you are, maybe you're a very outgoing person, but you've been put in a situation where you're in a cubicle and there's no one around you and you feel miserable.

But you're getting paid well to do the job, right? Maybe it's just wrong temperaments. Maybe you're the opposite. Maybe you're really an introvert, but your role requires you to be in some really intense situations that make you feel uncomfortable, and maybe it's the other way around. So start to really look at what are the different aspects that make me me?

Where do I feel like I thrive? What are some of the things I enjoy? What are some of the contributions I make to a group as well? Right. Maybe when you're in a group, you help everyone get on track, help everyone get organized.

Maybe you're the one that keeps the team report, right? You help everyone to feel encouraged and the work that they do and they keep working on it and to keep working well together so that the goal is actually done.

Just start to figure out how you relate to others, how you relate to yourself, and what does your personal contribution make to whatever you put your hands up. And so look at your contribution in your personal life contribution.

Maybe with the areas you volunteer in, contribution, with your work and some of the key things that people have been saying to you that, hey, I really bring this to table every time I show up and guess what? Maybe that answer. Maybe all those personality tests might actually result in that you are supposed to run your own business. Maybe it just means you're supposed to do your own thing, and that's okay too, right? Maybe it has nothing to do with the corporate world.

Maybe it's the flexibility, maybe it's the mindset. Maybe it's just the control, whatever it is, it might actually result in that as well. And of course, if you're going to do that, then there's a process of doing that well and getting that business plan going and making sure that you have those processes in place to really scale up, of course, and finding all those resources, if that's what you want to do. But those are all the things that I think people need to reflect on, and maybe some of the areas that I think might be happening for people during this time and during the great resignation.

So I want to know.

Let me know in the comments below. Do you think that this resignation will last? Do you think it will grow, or do you think it will decline again? 

 Thank you so much again for tuning in today's podcast. Be sure to follow us for more of this information and tips and interviews that are coming down the pipeline and enjoy the rest of your day.