If you don’t enjoy your work, you should quit your job.

This is an opinion I often hear when discussing work culture, demanding environments, and their impact on employees’ emotional and mental well-being. Sometimes it’s even said with the best of intentions, yet it often lands the wrong way, limiting the scenarios one can explore to a single, quite extreme option.

First, not many people go to work every day with an unextinguishable fire of excitement in their eyes. Typically, work isn’t that rosy—even when it’s a great fit. There are truly challenging projects, difficult clients, budget cuts, uncertainty, layoffs, unexpected strategic shifts—always staying a happy unicorn means ignoring reality.

Second, it places all the responsibility on the individual. This logic is even used when letting people go: “We see that you’re not thriving here, and we want people to thrive.” I’ve even seen this in reels, and you know—if something has made it there, it’s a common knowledge.

Third, our perception of work is complex. The environment, our interpretation of it, our outlook, role, activities, relationships, hopes, and plans—all of this influences how we feel about our work. Changes in any of these areas can lead to significant improvement. Sometimes, even just a shift in perception—not the environment itself—can make a difference.

I first heard this phrase many years ago. I was still grieving the loss of my father and spending hours each day comforting my mom. I wasn’t enthusiastic about my work—or, honestly, about anything. Many things helped me move past that state, but this phrase wasn’t one of them.

There are many ways to make your work more enjoyable. Changing jobs is a valid option, but it’s not the only one. And if you decide to make that change and quit your job, think about what would make the switch meaningful. That way, you can be sure you’re not just chasing the idea of enjoyment but creating real, sustainable satisfaction—and that your requests for change or support will truly be heard.

Unicorn Quitting