Hello, this is Azusa Nagatomo.

The other day, I received the following question on my Instagram story.

“I’m 42 years old. I’ve always wanted to quit my job, but

I can’t because I can’t find another job that pays as much as my current job.

What should I do?”

I would like to answer this today. ( Click here for Voicy ) 

“I want to quit my job, but I can’t…”

I think there are quite a lot of people who actually think like this.

I’m not young anymore, and it’s too late to try anything now.

Because they are over 40, they think they cannot do this or that.

In my honest opinion, I think they are just being naive.  

Azusa Nagatomo’s career

To give you my own example,
I moved from Tokyo to Miyazaki when I was 40 years old.

When I moved from Tokyo to Miyazaki,
I had completely left my job in Tokyo.


My husband was also an actor, but he stopped doing that completely.
So we both ended up with no work and zero income.

I was 40 years old and my husband was 44 years old.

8 months pregnant, starting from zero experience

To make things even more challenging, I moved here when I was 8 months pregnant with my younger daughter. I was barely able to move and could only use my head.

I took on the challenge of starting a business and making money from that situation.

If you are wondering if I had any skills at that time, the answer is no; I didn’t have any.

But I was able to overcome that situation with just my motivation, energy, and physical strength.

I ventured into business and have continued to do business and today, I am many times more successful than I ever imagined.

Of course, when I was an office worker,

I thought that I couldn’t do any other job.

The trigger was the Great East Japan Earthquake.

It was during the Great East Japan Earthquake that I thought deeply about my future.

I thought at that time.
If my life really ended like this, I would definitely regret it.

I decided to take the risk.
Also, I decided to take action while keeping in mind that even if I fail, I won’t die.

As a result, I moved to Miyazaki, gave birth, started a business, and
was able to make ends meet every day.

The difference between light and dark in life is whether you can take action or not.

After all, there are always turning points in life. 

Whether or not you go into defensive mode or take action at this turning point determines your future. 

No matter what you do, life will end someday, and no matter how you live, you will still make mistakes and have unpleasant things. 

But what will happen if I keep doing what I’m doing now for a few more years, until I die? You can see what’s ahead, right? 

Even with that stable job, you don’t know if it will be stable in the future. 

So, let’s start by letting go of the belief that this is the only job I can get paid for
or that I can’t quit because I don’t know if I’ll get paid the same amount.

Times change. Are you ready?

Things will really change in the future.

It will change rapidly.

I don’t know why the person asking the question wants to quit her current job, but if she wants to quit because

the job is boring or the relationships are in disarray, then it’s not the environment. 

It’s a “you” problem.

There is no perfect environment, neither good nor bad.

If you don’t reconsider your way of thinking,

the same problems will definitely come back to haunt you even after you quit your current job. 

Even if you change your job or relationships, you will still end up complaining.

So if you want to quit for that reason, it’s better not to quit now.

Please ask yourself this question.

Why do you want to quit your job?

Relationships? Environment? Method? Your skill?

I think you should carefully assess what it is and then
decide whether to quit your job or not.

Otherwise, even if you change jobs, the same thing will happen again in the next place.

If it’s not for those negative reasons, but
you want to try something new but can’t stop because of fear, 

then, isn’t it worth trying?

It doesn’t matter whether you have the skills or not.

Instead of thinking “What do I  want to do NOW?” think about  “What do I want for the future?”

When I quit my job as an office worker, I had zero skills.

I almost never open SNS.

I had never even written a blog.

Back in 2012, I had never really done anything to share messages.

But I had to do it to survive.

So I did it, that’s all.

 We are too protected

I think many Japanese people have the same tendency, but to be honest,

they’re too obsessive about peace.

Once you look at the world…

whether Russia will believe in Ukraine or not, whether there will be a war or not.

there are many countries where citizens live in fear for their lives.

People like us who are peace obsessives want to quit even though they are getting paid. 

They want to quit just because they don’t like it, 

They want to quit because the company doesn’t appreciate them, even though they have more to offer. 

They want to quit because their boss doesn’t appreciate them. 

I think it’s arrogant to say that you want to quit because you don’t like it.

100 years of life. It’s your turning point.

Japan is an amazingly blessed country.

However, there are many people who are so blessed that they lose touch with peace.

This is more so for those of us in our early 50’s who still have to live our lives.

No matter how old you are, in the end, it’s up to you

There are certain people who are unable to feel grateful for their current situation. Take Yumeko, for instance. She grew weary of her workplace, not because it tied her down but just because she didn’t want to work there anymore. She dreams that life will instantly become better if she leaves.

She keeps thinking the job is the problem yet she doesn’t make any moves, rather, she constantly grumbles and complains. 

She tells herself that if she changes her workplace or if she changes her work environment, things might change yet she doesn’t do anything to address the problem or even determine what it is.

Problems don’t just go away

I don’t think the world is that kind.

All problems are created by ourselves and so are solutions

So start by asking yourself, “What is the reason you don’t want to work for this company right now?”

It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you always blame the outside world.

Let’s be strong and start the move from inside.

We have a lot to teach the younger generation.

Young people today know that they will no longer receive a pension and
that their companies will not protect them if they do not earn their own money.

They also know the fear of being rejected if they don’t acquire the skills themselves.

That’s why they are trying their best to survive in this chaos.

Don’t become a “boiled frog”!

But what about our generation?

Are we still doing things like boiling a frog in lukewarm water?
A boiled frog will jump out of water if you suddenly put it in boiling water,
but if you boil it slowly, it will lose the timing to escape and die.

We, in our early 50s, should have a sense of crisis.

I think that right now, we should be questioning how we should live in the future.

Thank you for your questions and DMs

This is a bit harsh, but I hope it was helpful.

Azusa Nagatomo will continue to accept your questions. 

We are also talking about this topic on Voicy , so please give it a listen.

Thank you for following me too.