As individuals working in the usual 9 to 5 setting, we split our lives into two segments- Personal life, professional life. If asked about your immediate thoughts on what they give you in return or why you like doing them, you answer is most likely to be-
Personal- Family, beloved, travel,Professional- Money, security, passion
If I were to ask you what brings you happiness/ joy the most, 95% of you will say, family, beloved, travel, or at max. money.
And here’s the most ironical point, I am trying to put across. THE SAME 95% of INDIVIDUALS ARE CLEARLY NOT HAPPY/ JOYOUS ENOUGH IN REGARDS TO THEIR JOB.
We invest ourselves and our time at our workplaces mostly- doing our jobs and remain unhappy! Ideally, it should have never been this way. Your workplace and work, both should be a part of your happiness too. Without it, you just end up criticising it all the time and become unhappier. This transcends into making you demotivated, and even unwilling to go to work.
As a mindfulness coach, I am here to share with you a simple exercise that will train your mind to love your job. As only when you are happy doing what you do, you give your best at it.
Some of you might argue here by saying “Till my job is providing me bread n butter it doesn’t really matter if I am happy there or not.”
But those of you really need to ask yourselves honestly, “How long can you work like that? Can you give our 100% to something that doesn’t make you happy?”.
And you shall have your answer. Mental stress and the negative effects of an unhappy person end up being quite evident.
In an attempt to fix that, let’s do a small exercise.
On a piece of paper make two sections in the first section write things you LIKE about your job and In the second section write the things you DISLIKE about your job.
Now with a calm mind look at the list. You will realize that the things you LIKE about your job are real. Things that actually matter to you like money, time or the workplace. You are truly pleased with them.
Look at the DISLIKE section now. If you think rationally you will notice most of those are either assumptions or comparisons.
“My boss doesn’t appreciate my work”(Assumption) or
“I don’t have a great package like my colleague” (Comparison).
Did you realise that maybe it’s you limiting yourself from finding happiness in every aspect of your life? The negative mindset you are carrying is keeping you deprived of true happiness.
We all desire to stay content with all that we have earned and blessed with, in our lives but it still seems unachievable. And that’s because of the mundane work pattern. It does give a slow death to our zeal to work.
To keep the zest alive, here are several things you can do-
- Bring positive and constructive changes in your routine- keep learning the new
- Keep a hobby alive- Workout, dance, cook, read
Find a means of fulfillment for yourself, attain the work-life balance and also keep reminding yourselves how lucky you are to have a job. Be thankful and practise gratitude by giving 100% to everything you have in your life and Job, of course.
We all have come to live a life and not just to pass days. And to live a life worth living we need to be content with our jobs too. All we need to do is to shift our focus from negative to positive. So, just keep looking for reasons which keep you motivated every morning and I bet you will find many.