Discouraged by a bad job? I recently wrote an article, “Love Work: How to Fall in Love with Your Job and Feel Ultimate Job Satisfaction.” It’s about how you can fall in love with your career even if you have a boring job to do. I’ve listed some specific actions you can take to spice up your work life.
It seems that boring work affects everyone in our work-obsessed society. Kind of ironic, right? We love to work; we just don’t love the work we do. That’s like dating someone you’re only half excited about while you wish the phone would ring and discover the person you REALLY want to know about on the line. Fortunately, this lackluster affair with your work can be transformed! This is what I suggest. Choose just ONE simple action step from the list below and take it TODAY to start falling in love with your work again:
1) Google a work-related topic you’ve always wanted to know more about and find a conference on the topic. Sign up to attend and then follow through to the end. Take initiative and be proactive about your career progress. No one will pursue opportunities for you unless your job is on the line. In that case, you’ll have to take some mandatory training and I bet they’ll be as enjoyable as ice fishing without a rod.
2) Call up some of your favorite customers and clients and ask them what they like best about your job, product, or service. Write down what they say and post it on your office wall so you can see it when you feel your energy or enthusiasm wane. Also keep a “Rave Fans” folder to fill with gifts, emails and cards, etc. that your clients and clients send you. When you feel stuck or a little discouraged, just start pulling things out of the folder until you get your groove back. (Those messages and gifts are like love letters that will help you love what you do again! You can also use this trick when you’re angry. Have you ever gotten mad at your spouse or partner but then pull out the sweetest card you Did they text you? Damn, suddenly you can’t be mad anymore… Well, the same is true with your “Raving Fans” folder. It’ll work wonders with your attitude.)
3) Start a think tank with other successful professionals in your industry or in other industries. Get together at least once or twice a month to share your successes and challenges and to exchange ideas and solutions. For an overview of how to start a think tank, read Meet and Grow Rich by Joe Vitale and Bill Hibbler.
4) Make a list of everything you like to do about your job. Then brainstorm how you can incorporate more of these activities into your daily routine. I guess your high performance activities will also be some of the ones you enjoy the most. Let’s face it: Checking email never earned anyone a dime. However, calling customers and prospects to brainstorm ideas or suggest solutions to their problems is a completely different story. One is a bird brain activity, the other is a dairy cow that you want to take to your pasture. Carefully choose the activities you prioritize and focus on the dairy cows you love!
5) Write down your least favorite thing to do at work. Now brainstorm ways to minimize the time you spend on that activity. Who can you train well to take on that responsibility? Find that out and start training them NOW. (More to come in future articles on outsourcing and productivity secrets, so stay tuned!)
6) Finally, think about the alternatives. What are your options and why do you CHOOSE to continue in your current line of work? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the work you are doing? Why didn’t you take other jobs or start other businesses in the first place? If you’re really miserable at your job and you think it makes a prison cell look cool, why not start looking for another job that unites your passions and experience? Or do you just prefer to be miserable for a third of your life? (After all, you spend 8-10 hours a day at work and commuting. That leaves about 8 hours for sleeping and a few more for eating, exercising, hanging out with family and friends, and pursue your hobbies). Hey, is that so? Is it time to look for a new job or are you in love with that ulcer that is growing on you?
Maybe I’m being a bit harsh on you, but truth be told, falling in love with your work isn’t hard. I’ve had my share of “menial” jobs (working at McDonald’s when I was sixteen, waiting tables in college, delivering singing telegrams in grad school, and more) and my experience in ALL of these positions was directly related to whether or I don’t mind having a positive attitude.
Falling in love with your job can be as easy as imagining that today is the first day of your new job or the grand opening of your business. Give it a try and you might be pleasantly surprised that you start to love work again and turn what seems like a bad job into a rewarding one. You may feel so passionate about your work that what you do is truly remarkable, and the enthusiasm with which you do it will be even more remarkable!
