This book was complete and utter nonsense. Maybe I wasn't the right audience for this but I'm really just not sure how it made it through to be published.

Like a pep talk from a good friend

Imagine talking with your best friend about feeling like there’s something missing in your working life and putting the world to rights over what you can do to fix it and you’ll get the feel of this book.

It’s not rocket science but sometimes people take themselves off down rabbit holes and can’t find their way back again. That’s where I think this book will help. For me it spoke more about how to get back to the right mindset and balance so you know what you want and can go after it.

I finished the book feeling more grounded and giving a lot more thought to the skills I’ve gained, the personal qualities I offer, my values and what I want from work. Like Anniki says there’s no such thing as a perfect job but we can empower ourselves and give ourselves permission to go out there and find work that is a better fit and if we aren’t happy to move on as we grow and change.

Not ground breaking but timely and thought provoking when the nature of work is changing and a healthier relationship with how we make a living can help us towards a better work-life balance and better mental health.

I was given this book from the author via netgalley only for the pleasure of reading and leaving an honest review should I choose to.

I quite liked this book, it was interesting in parts and I could relate to what the author was writing about, other parts of the books I couldn't relate to my own personal work life, unless you have your own "dream job" - my job is not a career or career path and it's not something I would've dreamed about doing as a child but I do enjoy my job all the same.

There are some good and bad bits to reflect on:

Good:
1. It promotes self - worth something which in many roles is severely lacking and certainly isn't something we can have provided to ourselves.

2. It looks at change in a good way, and changing how you feel and react to things in your job world. How to manage stress, be happy at work and deal with your overall confidence and there are lots of tips about this in the book! A bonus!

Not as good:

1. The book promises if you read it you will find all the negativity that you have in your job to go away, such as unhappiness, not having your dream career or role, feeling trapped etc etc. It is hard to have a work life balance especially with a family life, and every situation is different however, some of us don't have the luxury of walking out of a job because it makes us miserable or whatever emotion you want to insert, some of us, just have to put food on the table because that's more important and that's sad that our happiness comes last but priorities sometimes have to come first, as it's not forever, it's just for "at the moment" - I get what the author is trying to show us, but it doesn't always carry off as well for others.

2. It's not one size fits all unfortunately and there is a lot of common sense which if applied you wouldn't really learn anything new from this book that you didn't already know.

Would I recommend this book? I neither would recommend or discourage my audience from reading it, I just feel that with the title it's promoting something that isn't necessarily giving the right idea out.
With thanks to Netgalley for my free ARC in return for my honest review.

The point of this book is to give you advice on understanding what you want from work moving forward.

I’ll admit, I’m relatively happy in my job, the concept of my role is kinda fluid which I like but it is open to manipulation for me doing whatever I’m asked. However I do want to be happier so with The Big Quit I was hoping for some tips on self analysis and how to improve the work/life balance particularly with me now WFH full time.

Scattered through the book are some visuals I thought they were great. They are bang on with their message and reinforced what Sommerville was saying.

I identified with what Kim Palmer said when interviewed by Sommerville. I have been wrapped up in my self-worth at work (and socially if I’m honest). I felt I had a lightbulb moment as I read what Kim had to say. I am good enough.

The chapter about parenting guilt is so bang on. I thought my life had been documented just with slight timing differences !! And I felt so relieved when Sommerville wrote Anxiety when you return from maternity leave is common. When I returned from mat leave, I put so much pressure on myself to pack as much work in to the 4 days I was now working as I did in the 5 I’d done previously. I thought it was just me that felt that.

I took so much from this book despite not actually wanting to change my job. I wanted to change how I felt, how I dealt with things. I learnt that a lot of what I’ve felt in the past is normal but I don’t have to feel that way. I highlighted so many sentences and sections that spoke to me. Some from an inspirational perspective, some that actually made me laugh out loud.

The Big Quit isn’t just about hunting out work that makes you happy. There are so many tips about managing stress and anxiety, dealing with confidence issues and awkward people and the work/life balance if you do like your job but are struggling. This is not a patronising read, it’s honest, it’s down to earth – I found it very easy to digest, finding myself nodding in agreement as I read. I now need to read Sommerville’s other nonfiction offerings.

My first introduction to Anniki Sommerville’s engaging style of writing was last year when I read How to be a boss at ageing. If Anniki starts a cult, I’ll be first in line to drink the Kool-Aid. Alternatively, if she’d have me, I’d love to be her groupie … even though it might be a bit tricky since we life in different hemispheres.

With The Big Quit she, once again, hits it out of the park and addresses what many women have been going through over the past year or two – even more so if you’re over 40. Covid and middle age are a double-whammy, two life-changing events in one go.

Full review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2022/07/19/the-big-quit-how-to-ditch-the-job-you-hate-and-find-work-you-love-anniki-sommerville/

I unfortunately did not find this helpful in any way. Quite shallow and either plain common sense or clichéd. Your mileage may vary depending on just how deep you are in a job that makes you unhappy.

This advice book was filled with so many cliched ideas about jobs/careers. I somewhat agree abut finding a position where there are more positives than negatives and you can do well. I felt it was more in the direction of a job NOT a career that evolves. I did not learn much from this.

Cannot recommend this but some other readers may find solace in their work woes. A no for me.

Thanks to NetGalley. Annika Sommerville and Thread Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 8/18/22

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review. This was a very interesting look at finding your “dream” job (is the term dream job a myth), which is a topic I’ve struggled with for years.

My favorite quote from the book, that will stay with me, is: “The trick is to find something that you can do well, that delivers some highs, not too many lows and doesn’t leave you wrung out like an old, grey flannel.”

This is a timely topic that everyone can gain something from reading.