A Bad Job and Boring Work Got You Down? Six Steps to Love Work Again

Discouraged by a bad job? 
           
I recently 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 your career even if you have boring work to do. I wrote down a few specific actions you can take to spice up your work life.
It seems that boring work affects everyone in our work-obsessed society.

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. Take the initiative and get proactive about your career progress. 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 maintain a "Raving Fans" folder to fill with gifts, emails, and cards, 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.

4) List everything about your work that you love to do. 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 for other work that unites your passions and expertise?

Or do you just prefer to be miserable for one-third of your life? (After all, you spend about 8-10 hours per day on your work and commute. That leaves about 8 hours for sleeping and a few others to eat, exercise, hang with family and friends, and pursue hobbies.) Hey, is it time to look for new work or are you in love with that ulcer you're getting?
           
Maybe I'm being a little hard on you, but truth be told, falling in love with your work isn't hard. I've had my share of "menial" jobs--working at McDonald's when I was sixteen, waiting tables in college, delivering singing telegrams in grad school, and more--and my experience in ALL of these posts was directly related to whether or not I chose to have a positive attitude.
         
Falling in love with your work can be as easy as imagining today is the first day of your new job or the grand opening of your business. Try it and you just may be pleasantly surprised that you begin to love work again and turn what seems to be a bad job into a fulfilling one.