Hate Your Job, Manager and Co-Workers? Don’t Quit. Do This Instead …

dream job challenge“The job of my dreams. Ahhhh, wouldn’t that be the life? To not feel like I’m working when I’m at work. To jump out of bed in the morning… Every. Single. Day.”

We have all imagined it, and when looking for a new role it’s precisely what we secretly hope to find. We believe ‘one day’ we’ll get there. Get to the elusive Mecca. Yet for some reason, it mostly remains just beyond our reach.

In this future world, we imagine our boss is amazing, our colleagues are fun, the work is interesting and engaging, and we are promoted through the ranks swiftly because management notices our potential.

In the real world, it doesn’t work out that way though. Why is that?

What’s amiss in this picture, is that our dream is completely within possibility, right here and right now. No need to search for it out there. Here is an insight as to why.

What’s the secret? It all starts and ends with you.

Do The Same Situations Repeat To You?

Have you ever had the experience where you’ve been super excited for a new role, have loved the first few weeks, and then within months, that familiar scenario, resurfaces.

The boss is micro-managing you again, you’re not getting along with colleagues, you are bored and feel like your role is monotonous and repetitive?

“Again? But I thought I just resolved that by starting a new job!”

“This is not what was promised to me in the interview!”

I’m going to throw something out there that you may not agree with, but if you choose to take it on, can potentially free you of the burdens we often face.

The Issue is Your Focus

You are already in your amazing job, with a great boss and awesome colleagues.

You are just choosing to FOCUS on what isn’t working rather than what is.

The reason we often experience setbacks is because we see the world through our own filters. These filters keep us safe, keep us retelling the same story over and over again because, truth be told, we get some sort of payoff from it.

Whether that payoff is blaming the other person, being stuck in our ways and not wanting to change, or enjoying being the victim of our story in order to get pity from others. There is a payoff.

Let’s examine the various parties that contribute to a negative working environment.

  • But What About My Manager?

Try for a day, to view the world through your manager’s eyes. Instead of blaming him, see how you are contributing to the tense relationship.

  • What could you do to have him/her micro-manage you less?
  • Are you performing at the absolute best that you know that you are capable of?
  • Are you not speaking up enough, when know that you should be?

I’m not at all saying that you are at fault, but merely showing that you can change things around by not focusing on that which isn’t working, and instead, take control and find a way to make it work better.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

  • But What About My Colleagues. It’s Not Me, It’s Them.

OK. So let’s consider your colleagues. What could you do to improve your working-relationship?

Yes, we all know how to point the finger and continue to be right about our point of view. But is it working for you?

You can keep telling everyone how horrible they are, but consider this.

Is it possible that there has been some great misunderstanding and they actually think that YOU don’t like them, and that’s why they’re acting insert how towards you?

Consider this: Has there ever been a time when somebody upset you, yet they had no clue about it?

I encourage you to put the shoe on the other foot, and see what you come up with.

Change your focus, see things from another perspective and you could be surprised at what you find!

  • It’s The Job That’s Annoying. Really, it Is.

Now, consider the role that you are in that you want to escape from.

Whilst you’re focusing on how you’re not enjoying it, try to see how your life changes once you start to zero in on how to add more value to your customers and clients than ever before?

Even when we believe that we’ve hit a glass ceiling, it is usually a symptom of us not knowing how to create the challenging environment for ourselves that we yearn for.

So then we run to another corporation where know we’ll have to build new relationships, learn new systems, start exploring a new business from scratch however all this does is it resets the boredom button, but inevitably the same thing happens in time.

Running keeps us from delving deeper into our minds to uncover what’s really in our way.

Then we fool ourselves into believing that we are growing by jumping ship, in actual fact, we are sweeping the problem under the proverbial rug, only to have it resurface later on.

There’s always a way to make even the most boring job better.

I once had a client who was a garbage collector who so wholeheartedly enjoyed his role, that it put every other person I’d ever met (including myself) to shame. We all can learn something from him!

I challenge you to make your role into one that you LOVE.

You’ll grow leaps and bounds by taking this one on.

  • Your Thoughts Create Your World.

In everything we do, there is ALWAYS a better way.

We can always find ways to please our customers more, to educate more, to give more, to excel, to learn new skills, to gain satisfaction in something that was once mundane and boring.

Because we choose what we focus on, we have the ability to create our worlds to be exactly as we want them to be.

Don’t like something? Don’t focus on it!

Think about that which lights you up instead (as above).

Your thoughts create your words. Your words create your actions. And your actions create your world.

Start with your thoughts. Change them and you WILL change your world.

Who knows? You could be in your dream job and you don’t know it.

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2 Comments

  1. Great to hear, Rajat! It always puts a smile on my face to hear of people who use this mindset when approaching life’s challenges! At times it isn’t easy, but shows strength of character and maturity.

    I have no doubt you will reap further benefits from it in future, too.

  2. Have read the article twice since noticing it in the daily digest mail. Its so awesome. Thanks Irene for gathering these thoughts and Raghu for sharing this on this forum.
    I have worked for two years in the corporate in India and am now a Grad Assistant in UMD. I use the same working mentality most of times(However, there have been times of exception, where I have lost my cool and temper but I hung on). Looking forward to doing our work in a more efficient manner is way better than bickering about the manager on a day to day basis. Lookign forward to do your work and giving your best towards it actually makes the work environment less taxing and fun.
    The attitude reaped benefits for me as I ended up getting a lot of unique experiences doing a lot of new stuff allocated to me and extending my boundaries each of those times.

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