When was the last time you were so passionate about your work that it didnât seem like work at all? Or truly excited by all the new stuff you were learning on your job? Or genuinely couldnât wait to get up and head to the office because your bosses and colleagues were so much fun to work with? Has it been a while since you felt the eagerness and butterflies you had during your very first week at your job? Has that professional spark been doused, or is it still flickering, just waiting to be reignited?
Choose a job you really love and you will never feel like youâre working another day. But what should you do if the thrill is gone? Is it really possible to get your groove back? Yes! What if you never had it in the first place? Yes, you can get in the groove.
If youâre not there yetâand I assume youâre not if youâre reading this bookâyouâve got company. About 50 percent of workers say theyâre unsatisfied with their jobs, and only 15 percent say they are very satisfied, according to a recent report by the Conference Board, a business membership and research group that has been conducting surveys about worker happiness since 1987.
Workers are least satisfied with promotion policy, bonus plan, training programs, performance review, and recognition, according to the most recent survey. Not surprisingly, high-income earners are more satisfied than lower-paid workersâand the gap has been widening in recent years. The survey found 64 percent satisfaction among those making $125,000 and over.
Another dismal report was the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint survey, administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. It revealed a federal workforce whose satisfaction on the job has steadily waned since 2010. The percentage of respondents satisfied with their jobs fell to 64 percent in 2014 from 72 percent four years ago. Pay satisfaction has fallen, too.
The latest declines, however, follow on the heels of a few years of federal employee pay freezes, along with higher health care costs tapping into paychecks. Not surprisingly, the survey also found that fewer workers would say their agency is a good place to work for anyone interested in joining the troupe. That number fell to 62 percent this year from 70 percent in 2010.
The fact is Americans are quitting their jobs at the fastest pace since early 2008. In October of 2014, 2.8 million people quit a job, the most since April 2008, according to the Labor Departmentâs monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS that was released in November.
Millions of people currently in the workforce could use a little career boost to keep their work a source of enjoymentâfor lots of reasons. While many people are comfortable with their current jobs, they may feel an underlying tension that they wonât be prepared should a merger or marketplace change put their job in jeopardy. That anxiety may linger beneath the surface. Other people may work for a company that has gone through a period of cost-cutting, eliminating positions and suddenly leaving less room for advancement and growth. The path to promotion is not always there, or at least not clear. They feel like theyâre trapped in a dead-end job.
But just saying âtake this job and shove itâ is probably not the best approach to battling your boredom or pent-up frustration. Quitting is generally not a good option, unless you already have a new position lined up elsewhere or you already have the means to retireâin which case, lucky you.
If youâre tempted to quit without a safety net, keep in mind the statistics: In the United States, unemployment generally lasts around 50 weeks for workers over 55 and 30 weeks for workers under 55, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And a recent report by the International Labour Organization, a UN agency, stated that âin many advanced economies, the duration of unemployment has doubled in comparison with the pre-crisis situation,â referring to the global economic downturn that exploded in 2008. The average length of joblessness, for example, recently hit nine months in Greece and eight months in Spain.
So no, you donât necessarily want to just throw in the towel on your current job. But donât worry. The truth is that finding happiness and fulfillment in the workplace doesnât always mean a big swerve from the past, or starting from scratch in a new job or career. It does, however, often call on the courage to make necessary but sometimes uncomfortable and even painful changes. You may need to take a long, hard, honest look within yourself to figure out whatâs holding you back from making modifications to your current job.
Love Your Job will show you how.
You may need to engage in some thoughtful sleuthing and inner soul-searching to figure where you can uncover new challenges and opportunities in your working life. You may need to dig deep down to tap the energy and determination needed to make the necessary moves. But even small ones have the potential to deliver big rewards. If you really want to love your job, you must first be able to step back and appreciate whatâs going right about it, even if there are times when you dread that upcoming assignment, meeting with the boss, or lunch with a difficult client.
Youâll need patience, because change doesnât always happen on your time schedule. But you also need to start the ball rolling, even if just a little bit at the start.
In the following pages, you will learn ways to do just that.
Should You Switch Careers?
Iâm a big advocate of following your heart to do work that you love, and Iâve written extensively and speak frequently about career transition to audiences around the country. Many of us at this time in our lives feel the allure of a career switch to follow a dream, often one from childhood, or to find work with meaning and purpose. When things go sour at work, many people imagine starting over in a second act or a new career to pursue a long-standing passion. They fancy it will be their magic elixir.
And it can be. In my book Whatâs Next? Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job in Your Forties, Fifties, and Beyond, I highlight stories of people who succeeded at doing just that. If youâre thinking along those lines, I support you, but be aware: Most of those people work harder than they ever have. Still, they find that itâs worth it, and they love what they do.
Hereâs the truth: In recent months, I have found through hundreds of meetings, interviews, and consultations with people seeking career advice that the big shift isnât always practical for many peopleâregardless of how miserable they are in their jobs. Itâs not that there isnât the will. But when it comes to the way, there are sobering stumbling blocks. Inertia can hold you back. The fear of failure when you make a big career shift and begin all over again in a new field can be paralyzing.
And at the heart of it, the biggest roadblock is money. Not having employer-provided health insurance and retirement benefits is a genuine concern. Then too, when you start over in a new field, particularly if itâs a nonprofit, you can generally expect to earn less, at least initially. And when you go the entrepreneurial route, you may need to forgo a salary entirely for a year or more until your business gains traction.
When I press people who seek my advice on what they really want to do with their work lives, I have found that many people donât actually feel the urge to make a huge career shift. They kind of like their job, and they just need to get their dance back.
And this is what I tell them and what Iâm telling you: You can fall back in love with your job again, even if youâve been doing it for decades. And if you never loved your job in the first place, I can help you find ways to enjoy it moreâor at least like it enough to take some pleasure in it. Many paths can lead you to this place. You can discover how to make old workplaces feel fresh, and learn ways to raise your hand that will open doors to new experiences and career moves. Itâs never too late to make your job a source of joy, as well as a paycheck.
DO I REALLY HATE MY JOB? OR IS IT BURNOUT?
Job burnout is far more than just feeling trapped and uninterested in your work. New research from jobs site Monster.com finds that a staggering four in five workers experience burnout at their jobs.
According to the Mayo Clinic, âJob burnout is a special type of job stressâa state of physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work.â
The clinicâs web site has a list of questions to help you decide if youâre experiencing job burnout. Here are some of them:
- Have you become cynical or critical at work?
- Do you drag yourself to work and have trouble getting started once you arrive?
- Have you become irritable or impatient with coworkers, customers, or clients?
- Do you lack the energy to be consistently productive?
- Do you lack satisfaction from your achievements?
- Do you feel disillusioned about your job?
- Are you using food, drugs, or alcohol to feel better or to simply not feel?
- Have your sleep habits or appetite changed?
- Are you troubled by unexplained headaches, backaches, or other physical complaints?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be experiencing job burnout. Be sure to consult with your doctor. Some of these symptoms can also indicate certain health conditions, such as a thyroid disorder or depression, according to the web site.
Plenty of factors can trigger burnout. They include a sense of powerlessness to influence decisions that affect your job such as your schedule, assignments, or workload; not having the resources you need to do your work; and working with an office bully or a micromanager boss. If you feel isolated at work, you may feel more stressed. If your job is monotonous, that can push you over the edge, too. And of course, your work-life balance could be out of whackâtoo much work, not enough lifeâwhich I discuss in later chapters.
Burnout can result in a multitude of medical problems, from fatigue and insomnia to depression, anxiety, alcohol or substance abuse, and even heart disease and a vulnerability to other illnesses, according to the Mayo Clinicâs medical experts.
