We’ve all been there.
You hate your job. You hate your boss. You hate your organization. You hate your colleagues. Every day you wake up filled with anxiety or annoyance at the thought of having to go to work. On Sunday afternoon you have a knot in your stomach in anticipation of what’s to come on Monday.
You do just as much as you have to in order to keep your job until you can find one you really want to do. But why do anything more than that? No-one notices your work. And no-one appreciates it.
You absolutely don’t want to be there. Every cell in your body is screaming at you to find your passion, a job with purpose, something to excite you because then – and only then – will you have the energy and enthusiasm to do your best work and love your job.
Sound familiar?
Okay, now imagine this.
You jump out of bed with enthusiasm for your day. You’re knocking it out of the park at work and you’re producing like you’ve never produced before. You’re creative, productive, and you’re adding value at every turn. You help and support your colleagues, give your best to everything you do, and you actively seek out new challenges and experiences. You have energy to burn and you ‘get stuff done’ and done well. You’re known for adding huge value to the organization and you’ve earned the reputation of being a ‘doer’.
What if I were to tell you that both experiences describe you in the same job, with the same organization, the same colleagues, and the same boss?
The difference is in how you approach the situation.
You’re rolling your eyes right now, aren’t you? You’re thinking I’m going to say that ‘attitude is everything’ and you should be positive, no matter what.
Actually, I’m not. But I am going to give you this piece of advice.
Stay in your job until you enjoy it.
You don’t have to love it. Just enjoy it. There are a number of very good reasons for this.
1. Mindset is everything.
Complaining, blaming, assigning responsibility for your misery to your boss, colleagues, job or organization is a losing battle. If you truly believe that the reason you hate your job is because of your boss, colleagues, or organization, you’ll feel weak, insecure, ineffective, and out of control. You’ll isolate yourself, cause suspicion amongst your colleagues, and concern for your boss. Eventually, you’ll either lose your job or find yourself on a performance improvement plan. Either way, you’ll prove yourself right that your boss, colleagues, and organization are the cause of your problems. And that’s not the best of mindsets for enjoying your life, or finding a new job.
While you’re working a job you hate, actively look for things you enjoy and find a way of doing more of them. Give it your all, fool yourself into believing that you’re already doing your dream job. Performing well in your current job will you give you the confidence and persistence needed to find your dream job. And when you find it, your references will be amazing!
2. Performance = Confidence = Performance.
Not giving your all to your job will drag you down. Failing to show up with energy and enthusiasm will severely dampen your ability to perform at work, and in life in general. When your performance goes under, it takes your confidence and self-esteem along with it. Now you’re in a rut with no foreseeable way out.
Show up to your job with the intent to do good work. Commit to doing the best work you can do in the job you’re in, even if you’re in a job you don’t enjoy. Performing will increase your confidence so that you can go into your job search knowing that you can pull anything off, even in the most adverse circumstances. If you deliver in a job you don’t enjoy, imagine what you’ll do in a job you love.
3. When you set an intention, you pay attention.
Do not be the office Eeyore because you are working a job you hate.
When you approach your work or workplace with complaints and criticism, you will actively seek out things that displease you. You’ll sabotage meetings, seek out opportunities to highlight mistakes (other peoples’, not yours), and generally poke holes in anything and everything. You become unpleasant to work with, and you may acquire the unfortunate label of ‘Office Eeyore’. Eventually, you’ll be isolated and ostracized and serves only to add to your misery.
Set your intention to find enjoyment in your day. You’ll find it. Have you ever noticed that when you buy a red car, all you see is red cars? That’s intention and attention in play. Do the same at work. When you approach your day with the intention of enjoying it, you’ll find multiple reasons to do so. It will make your life much easier, and you much more pleasant to be around.
4. Talk yourself into your dream job, not out of your current job.
If you don’t give your all to your current job, how will you know that you’re not already in a job you love? And how will you find out what it is that you do, in fact, enjoy?
Give your job a go. Work at it and find out what makes you tick and what turns you off. There are frustrating aspects of all jobs, but that’s rarely a reason to run away. The belief that ‘the grass is always greener’ is, at best, shaky. The grass is only ever as green as you make it. If you run to another job without having resolved your approach to your last job, you’ll simply carry your baggage over.
Find out what really makes you tick and then find a job that gives you the opportunity to do that often. Be conscious that what you’re running towards is what you want. Running away from what you don’t want never ends well.
5. Showing up protects your mental health.
Without exception, every client I’ve coached through burnout has come to me with a very negative report of their job and workplace (just for the record, I was the same when I experienced burnout!). It’s to be expected as it’s this that takes people into burnout in the first instance. Stress and burnout are about lack of or loss of control, inability to see the good in anything, and complete absence of enjoyment in any part of life.
I don’t help people through stress and burnout by advising them to work less, eat better, and get more exercise. I work on helping them to change the way they think. Once they learn how to do that, they explode out of burnout!
Protect your mental health by showing up with an open, curious, energetic mind. Believe that you’re where you’re meant to be because you’re there. Stop fighting it. Go with it, find good in it, and do amazing work until the time comes to make a change, should one be needed.
As the song goes, “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.” Hate, complaining, criticism, and negativity will drag you down, deplete your reserves, and exhaust you. If you truly want to find your passion and a job you love, give working a job you hate a try. The energy, mental strength, and momentum that creates will guide you safely and clearly to wherever it is you’re meant to be.
