Winners Quit, Losers Get Fired

How to Never Get Fired Again From a Job

Winners quit and losers get fired. I have only been fired from one job in my career and the reason I got fired was because I couldn’t afford to lose the job.

Let that sink in for a second.

Welcome to Fear

The main reason most people feel unhappy or miserable is because they think they have zero options. You hate your job, you hate your boss, you hate your co-workers, but more importantly you hate your life and what it has become.

That’s not how your life started. In fact, we all start out with a lot of hope.

When we are young, we hope for the future. We dream big. And we dream about reaching for the stars.

But then you get your first job and life seems to change.

Except NOTHING has really changed.

The reason life feels different after you land your first job, is because your job introduces you to FEAR for the first time. Your school and your teachers tried to scare you, but who listens to teachers and your school has no power over you.

That’s not the same when it comes to your job.

Your job has power over you and you FEAR your boss.

You Must Overcome the Fear

If you want to never get fired again, you need to learn how to overcome the fear. That’s easier said than done, but it’s the truth.

I have only been fired from one job in my entire career. The reason I got fired was because I was scared to lose the job. Tell me if you ever experienced this as well.

I was scared to lose the job because I needed the money. At the time, I was in over my head financially. I had a mortgage, car insurance, bills, credit cards, and food and clothing, all that needed to be paid off. I didn’t want the job, but I needed the money.

So fear took over. Since I couldn’t afford to lose the job, I was forced to accept certain realities.

Here’s a list of things I was forced to accept:

• Idiotic Bosses
• Abusive Work Environment
• Bosses Openly Taking Advantage Of Me
• Public Humiliation
• Being Lied To All the Time
• Being Passed Over for a Promotion
• Having a Pay Raise Request Denied

Have you faced similar issues?

The only reason I got fired was because I was afraid to quit. That’s why winners quit and losers get fired. I was forced to accept abuse because I couldn’t afford to quit. And the only reason I ended up getting fired was because I stood up for myself at work.

Stop Setting Yourself Up to Fail

If you want to avoid being a failure, you need to overcome the fear. But more importantly, you need to stop setting yourself up to fail. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had fallen into a failure trap.

I was afraid to lose the job because I needed the money. After I got fired, I thought I would feel shock. I thought that I would feel shame or guilt, except all I felt was relief.

The problem wasn’t the job, it was the decisions I had made that led me to that point. I had set myself up to fail in the first place.

Stop setting yourself up to fail. You deserve better. And you deserve more out of life.

How to Become a Winner

If you want to avoid the failure trap, you need to learn how to become a winner. You need to learn how to put yourself in a position that you don’t fear your job or your boss or the people you work with.

Living in fear is no way to live.

But how can you overcome this failure trap?

Pay close attention because I will reveal to you the secret to success.

Before I reveal the secret, I think it’s important you understand how I discovered this secret. In case you don’t know my professional background, I have only been fired from one job, but I have had many jobs that I ended up leaving.

I began my professional career as a journalist on radio and newspapers. I then spent three years in the classroom as a teacher before I quit that job. I then worked for a few years behind the scenes in the TV and Film industry, while also giving a decade of service to politics and campaigning.

But only one career earned me the most attention and most notoriety and that was education. As I stated earlier, I started as a teacher in the classroom, before deciding to quit after three years. Instead of leaving education altogether, I decided to go back to school and earn my Masters in Educational Leadership. That’s how I became a certified principal, superintendent and school business administrator.

What you realize when you are in charge of a school or district is that “what you think” doesn’t matter. All that matters is what the research says and what will help your students, teachers, and administrators thrive and succeed.

That’s how you think like a winner.

When all you care about is what you think and what you believe, you fall into the failure trap. When you’re in charge, you need to LISTEN to what other people are saying and doing.

The secret to success is LISTENING!

Follow the Secret

If you want to become a winner and avoid falling into the failure trap, you need to learn how to LISTEN. If you don’t believe me, tell me why you hate your boss or your co-workers?

Isn’t the reason why your boss sucks and your co-workers are stupid is because they don’t LISTEN?

Look at any work situation. The worst bosses are the people who don’t LISTEN to their employees or customers. The companies that go out of business are the ones that don’t LISTEN to customers and market trends.

LISTENING is the key to success.

That’s what I realized when I became a principal and then advanced into the superintendent role. The more I listened, the more successful I became.

Learn How to Listen Better

Do you need some help?

In 2017, the NJ Joint Legislative Committee on the Public Schools invited me to give expert testimony in a public hearing. They asked really good questions. And I explained to them why schools fail and what the State of NJ could do to make their entire K12 system the best in the world.

Academic elites, administrators, K12 districts and elected officials have all fallen into the failure trap. They are too afraid to do anything because they think they have zero options.

What’s the answer? They need to learn how to LISTEN!

If NJ’s elected officials had listened to my recommendations in 2017, students would not be so far behind today. The problem is that the people in charge are not LISTENING to anyone, but themselves.

Don’t make the same mistake.

I launched Leaf Academy in 2021 to show people how to become successful. One of the things you can do at Leaf Academy is watch two FREE Webinars. Inside the webinars, you will learn about 21st century leadership skills and BONUS — there is a LISTENING activity for you to practice.

Welcome to Leaf Academy

If you want to learn how to listen better, go watch one or both of the FREE Webinars and then register for the 21st Century Beginner Leadership 101 Course.

Inside this groundbreaking 21st century course, you will learn how to become an expert listener, along with five other steps to become a winner in the 21st century.

Stop living in fear. Take control over your life and your future.

The secret to success is learning how to listen. Go boost your listening skills at Leaf Academy today!

See you at Leaf Academy!

About the Author:

D. Scott Schwartz, M.Ed. can be found on Twitter and Instagram with the handle “@theschooldoc.” He hosts a LIVE weekly podcast on IG called “Tuesdays with Schwartz” which discusses 21st century skills and how to be more successful in life. He does consulting work for Education Development Institute, an education think tank that helps businesses and schools maximize their potential in the new millennium.