You can’t get the job you want until you love the job you
have.
You may be
wondering why the topic of Loving Your Work would even be in a blog about
wellness and transformation; well, take a moment and think about it. You spend
at least 8 hours a day at the job you have, if you don’t like it and it doesn’t
like you, then you already know that it’s affecting your well-being.
When friends
call to complain about their job, I don’t tell them to be grateful that they
have a job (I think it, but I don’t say it out loud,) I tell them to think back
to the day when they first got the job. I ask them to imagine the feeling they
had when everything was new and wonderful. I remind them that they were ecstatic; calling everyone
to share their joy. “I got the job!” they exclaimed.
Back then they had the
excitement of a young couple in love before bills, snoring and that smacking
sound he makes when he chews (sorry, I had a flashback.) You get my drift; act
like you did when you thought that everything was possible and your position at
your place of work could make a difference there and in the world.
We fall out
of love with our job the same way we fall out of love with each other. You
cheat on the job by going home and telling everyone who will listen how horrible
the job and the folks there are and then you go to work to talk about the folks
at home; and we wonder why we have no work/life balance.
Even when you have a job that is not
your dream job, you should learn to love it. You should learn to appreciate
some aspect of it well enough that you come to believe that it is your life’s
purpose.
When I was
still a kid, I cleaned banks after school. At first, I hated it; it was dark
and scary and I kept waiting for Old Man Jenkins from the Scooby Do cartoon to jump out from a dark corner. I hated the job
so much, that I became anxious about going. One day, I decided to change my thinking. I began to imagine that I
owned the bank and I was cleaning my own property. I was a young teenager, but I
had made the connection between the mind and the will. Now that I think
about it, it was most likely my youth that enabled me to do so. When we are
young, we believe that all things are possible.
Even now
when I have to do a job or event that I’m not excited about, I find some aspect
of it that can give me joy.
Here are a
few tips for learning to re-love your work:
·
Think about the lives you are
affecting. When I
think of the end user; the person on the other side of the product, I am less
likely to think of my own complaints. Imagine how you have changed the life of
someone else because of what you do.
·
Remind yourself that you are needed.
·
Be grateful. Gratitude goes a very long way.
Look around and appreciate the job you have, the people you work with and then
appreciate yourself.
You can’t get the job
you love until you love the job you have.
Be you, be well, be
great.
Bertice Berry, PhD.
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