There’s a Honeymoon Phase in employment. I started most of my jobs with so much hope and enthusiasm.
Gosh, the boss is a great guy!
Ooooh they do doughnuts on Fridays!
Everybody’s so nice!
We’re doing important work!
But all Honeymoon Phases come to an end.
I wish my boss wouldn’t hang over my shoulder so much.
A different food on Friday’s would be cool.
Some of the girls can be a little catty.
It’s not quite as heroic as they make it all sound.
Our jobs take up so much of our lives, that if they don’t fill the needs in our lives, we quickly start to feel the disenchantment. And unless something changes, our nagging doubts can turn to disappointment, and turn to discouragement, and turn to resentment.
If I have to look at that guy’s face one more day of my life…
Do they really think they can bribe me with those stale damn doughnuts?
Look at that useless, toxic, gossipy section over there… what else do they even do all day?!
I don’t buy their BS; we are not saving the world here! I think humanity would be fine without this place!
And we start to see everything the job is not giving to us, and everything the job is taking from us.
Oh, we matter so much to them, but there’s no benefits?
They expect me to do all this on the same hourly wage I’ve been making for the past three years?
I have no time for my life!
I’m betting almost every business with employees has at least one who’s wallowing in bitterness, and that if you look around at your own place, you’ll spot it in someone.
But I’m hoping that now you know something they don’t:
No job will ever give enough, or be enough by itself.
We have to take what we need, and give it to ourselves.
Just in case this is the first post you’ve read on my blog, I’m not talking about raiding the petty cash drawer, or taking merchandise home to sell yourself, or anything else like that. I’m not talking about being dishonest, or devious, or doing anything you could be fired for.
I’m talking about the most important thing to do when you find yourself in a job you don’t like. This is Number 1 no matter how we feel about the place we work, but it becomes even more vital when we’re ready to throw two fingers at the whole thing.
You have to know why you’re there, and why you should care.
I’ve already talked about this, but let’s all get a refresher anyway:
You can use this job to get what you want.
Yep!
And so far, I’ve gone into the first step: Make a map (a plan) for your job.
This all might sound like such a stretch, I know. But wouldn’t it be nice to take away that feeling of being “stuck” in a job?
I always say, “you don’t have to stay”, but there might be a reason why sticking around is in your best interest for a while. And instead of it feeling like a prison sentence, it can become your strategy. It can become part of your grand plan, and you’ll know exactly what you’re going to do with it, and where it’s taking you.
Staying can be your STRATEGY.
Use your job!
It doesn’t matter whether it’s making you rich or paying you minimum wage. It doesn’t matter if it’s applicable to your degree, or skills, or interests, or the work you’d rather be doing. It doesn’t matter whether upper management rains rewards and appreciation, or whether being taken for granted is part of your job description.
You can use it.
You can use it to get what you want for your life.