Over my 30+ years in the workplace, I’ve had many ups-and-downs. There were some jobs I loved and some where I was ready to bolt the first week of employment.
 
Back in 1996, I was employed by a medical clinic as a quasi-administrator. In this role, I spearheaded technology projects and reported directly to the business owner. In total, this physical therapy establishment had about 15 employees, and it seemed like much of our work was intertwined.

For example, I often had to communicate with both the therapists and insurance clerks to gather the information needed to decide which technology solution to prioritize. When I was not working on projects, I was asked to help the Business Office optimize its processes.
 
In other words, I was deeply involved with both operational activities and projects. To make things harder, we had limited physical space, which meant many of us shared working spaces.
 
Getting Honest

In just a few months working at this practice, I realized it was the wrong place for me. Unfortunately, it was difficult to say good-bye to this employment opportunity because it was only a few miles from my house. I lived in Houston during this time, and it was tough finding work close to home.
 
However, I needed to be honest with myself. There were several reasons why this job was NOT right for me, including the following: I felt anger and resentment from other employees who had been with the practice longer than me. Given it was a small office, it became evident to many of them I was earning twice what they were making, and they did not appreciate an outsider commanding this type of salary. I was too involved in the nuts-and-bolts or operational efforts of the clinic. I understand that I must know what happens with the innerworkings of the business so high-level decisions are made with this knowledge, but 95% of my time was spent with routine tasks. At this point in my career, I wanted the challenge of learning how to manage an organization from a strategic perspective. It was obvious there was no long-term plan for me. Considering just my compensation, I was the second highest paid person in the organization. The founder was the top wage earner, as is rightfully so. Looking Inward

After just 4 months of employment, and right before Christmas, I resigned. I had another revenue source, which meant I had a soft landing awaiting me. The compensation was less than I was earning in the medical practice, but I enjoyed it more. 
 
The point I’m trying to share here is that my problem existed mostly because I attempted to place blame on the people at the clinic and the type of work assigned to me.
 
It was easy to point the fingers at others.
 
When I decided to look inwardly and acknowledge that my skills, abilities, and timing were misaligned with the current employment, I could see the path ahead, and it was clear.
 
My experience has taught me that most of the problems I encounter are caused by decisions and actions I have chosen for myself.
 
The more I own the consequences, the sooner I can start heading in the right direction.