We spend the vast majority of our lives at work or working, so we need to feel happy in our role. If you don’t, how can you change that?
Monday morning blues
We all have days where we’d rather not go to work. Monday mornings can be a real struggle for many of us – but if you are never truly happy about what you do for a living, it’s time to do something about it. After all, most of us spend at least seven hours a day at work – that’s longer than we spend with our children, partners or enjoying hobbies. So there has to be some enjoyment in it, surely?
According to economists at Warwick University, happiness is one of the most important factors for a productive workforce – and if your happiness is affecting your productivity, it will have an effect on your entire career, so let’s do something about that!
To start with, you need to be honest about how you feel about your work – whether you run your own business or work for an organisation. You can’t just pretend that you are happy in your job if you’re not. Sure, it may pay the bills, but don’t you want something more than that? The longer you push away any feelings of being unfulfilled, the longer you will invest in the job or career that’s not right for you – being invested makes it hard to walk away, so those issues and feelings need to be dealt with.
Talking to a life or business coach can help you work through how you feel about your career, and what you would really like to do.
Often, we get stuck in a career that wasn’t even of our making. Because we have to make decisions about what exams we will take while only in our teens, other people can have a big influence on the choices we make. But even though your parents expected you to go into law, or medicine or whatever your career is, you don’t have to be tied in by their expectations for ever. If you are unhappy you need to let go of the should-haves and supposed-to’s and focus on something that will be a better fit for you.
Think again
Examine what you feel you should be doing and look at it with a fresh eye. Ask yourself what you would really like to do, not what you feel you should do. Again, working through these feelings with a coach whose only agenda is to help you can be really valuable.
You also need to start thinking about what you really want to do – what’s important to you? Is it making a far bigger salary? You need to look at what opportunities are out there. Is it helping other people – perhaps a role in the health sector or social sector is for you? Or perhaps you feel the need to be creative – look to the media, music, art or advertising? Do you want to feel like you’re making a real difference to other people or to the world in general? Maybe a role at a charity could work for you.
Taking a new path
Of course, none of this means you need to walk into work tomorrow and hand in your notice – you can start small. Begin working towards what you really want to do – whether it’s building up some savings to help you go freelance or part time or set up on your own, or start taking some extra courses and training to set you on a new path.
Or maybe you just need to make your existing job or career work for you – perhaps work on a pitch to your boss for a project that you could get enthused about – or set up a strategy for moving into a different department where you could get excited about your work.
And there are ways to help you feel happier at your 9-5 job as well. Being friendly with your colleagues can really help to uplift your day and how you feel. Going in with a positive attitude can make a big difference, both to your working experience and how others interact with you. And even though you may not like your job as a whole, focus on something that you do enjoy – or something that you can look forward to.
There are many questions here which highlight the complexity of the situation. If you would like to discuss this subject in more detail, we offer a free 30-minute Skype consultation – drop us an email to hello@springer-alexander.com. Otherwise please continue to browse the website or call us on tel: 07739 898167.