For many of us, we have a job that we enjoy going to every day, but we would be hard pressed to say we love it. The truth is, for many jobs out there we don’t get to do what we would like to do. Nevertheless, we have to put food on the table and pay the mortgage so we do what we have to do.
The truth of the matter is you don’t need to love your job to have a rewarding, fulfilling job – but you do have to be actively engaged in it to make it rewarding. There are simple things you can do to make your job rewarding, no matter if you are a CEO or a mail carrier. Call it taking a proactive approach to managing the career you currently find yourself in!
Happiness and self-fulfillment are never going to totally come from a job. If you are miserable each morning as you trek to work, but you are paid a million dollars a year, can you say with all honesty that you are happy?
Understand that what makes most people happiest in their life, and fills their days with love, is usually the close, personal relationships they form with others — Husbands and wives; friends and relatives. When we forge relationships they help bring happiness into our lives by pulling the people we are about the most closer to us.
This can help in the workplace as well by forming relationships with groups of peers both inside and outside your company.
Many professionals from all walks of life belong to organizations of like-minded individuals who get together to socialize, network and talk about issues and opportunities they are facing in their career. These can have a huge effect on your overall happiness at work and in life. You now have an outlet to discuss issues that are important to you with people who are probably engaged in the same functions as you are on a daily basis.
Studies have shown that the classic relationship between job satisfaction and performance doesn’t exist. It isn’t the job that is influencing our performance; it is the personal well being of the individual who is doing the job. Their personality and outlook on life can have a far greater influence on how productive they are than how satisfied they are with their job.
Take, for example, someone who works in a fast food restaurant. They may have a terrific personality, and are always friendly and smiling and do whatever it takes to get you in and out of there in a flash. This person may not exactly be satisfied with the job they have. It may be a temporary thing until they get out of school, or a part-time venture they have taken to help pay down some bills. Even though they aren’t satisfied with their job, they are making the best of it and being a productive employee by their own personal outlook on life. They enjoy meeting new people and helping others.
So ask yourself – are you in love with your job? If you are one of the rare few who do have a job that fills their life with joy and happiness – congratulations! If you are like the rest of us, then discover ways you can make your job more rewarding just by the actions you take. You may find out that your job turns into one of the most rewarding experiencing you have ever had!
Written by David B. Bohl
