Published:
03/18/2011 03:11pm
A Bad Job And Boring Work Got You Down? Six Steps To Love Work Again
Recently I wrote an article, "Love Work: How To Fall In Love With Your Job And Feel The Ultimate Work Satisfaction." It's about how you can fall in love with what you do for a living even if you have a bad job and boring work to do. I gave you a couple of ideas for specific actions you can take to rekindle the spark you used to feel for your work when it was new and exciting.
It appears that boring work is a pretty huge issue for our work-obsessed culture. Kind of ironic, isn't it? 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 you'd discover the person you REALLY want to hear from on the line.
Luckily, this lackluster affair with your work can be transformed! Here's 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. Register to attend and then follow through. Get proactive about your professional development. No one will seek out the opportunities for you unless your job is on the line--In that case, you'll have some mandatory trainings to take and I'd bet they'll be about as enjoyable as ice fishing without a pole.
2) Call some of your favorite customers and clients and ask them what they most like about your work, product, or service. Write down what they say and tape it on your office wall so you can look at it when you feel your energy or enthusiasm waning. Also keep a "Raving Fans" file folder and fill it with the nice cards, emails, gifts, etc. that your clients and customers 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 get back on track with loving what you do! You can use this trick when you're pissed off as well--Have you ever been mad at your spouse or partner but then you pull out the sweetest card they wrote to you? Doggone it, suddenly you just can't stay mad anymore...Well, the same is true with your "Raving Fans" folder. It'll work wonders for your attitude.)
3) Start a mastermind group with other successful professionals in your industry or across industries. Meet at least once or twice a month to share your successes and challenges and to brainstorm ideas and solutions. For an overview of how to start a mastermind group, read Meet and Grow Rich by Joe Vitale and Bill Hibbler. Also read the funny chapter on mastermind groups in my free report, "How to Overcome Overwhelm in 7 Easy Steps," which is available on my website.
4) Write down all the things about your work that you love doing. Then brainstorm ways you can incorporate more of these activities into your daily routine. My guess is that your high payoff activities will also be some of the ones you enjoy most. Let's face it--Checking email never earned anyone a cent. However, calling clients and prospects to brainstorm ideas or suggest solutions for their problems is a different story altogether. One is a bird-brained activity, the other is a cash cow you want to herd into your pasture. Choose the activities you give priority to carefully and focus on the cash cows you love!
5) Write down what you most dislike doing in your work. Now brainstorm ways to minimize the time you spend on that activity. Who can you train well so they can take over that responsibility? Figure 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 tradeoffs and payoffs for the work you're doing? Why didn't you take other jobs or start other types of businesses in the first place? If you really are miserable in your work and you think it makes a prison cell look enticing, then why don't you start looking
