Do you get why you hate your job?

There may be several reasons why you hate your job. Sometimes your unhappiness may have nothing at all to do with your work, it may relate specifically to other areas of your life, where you feel dissatisfied.

To assess if you truly do hate your work, you may like to ask yourself the following:

• Are you bored with life?
• Are you stuck in a rut?
• Have you lost the passion?
• Do you dread going to work?
• Do you hate your boss and / or your co-workers?
• Do you feel like you are not being paid enough?
• Is work effecting your personal life?
• Do you feel that your skills and talents are not being utilized?
• Are you feeling drained or burnt-out?
• Do you find yourself procrastinating when you are usually very focused?
• Do you feel constantly sick?
• Are you impatient and irritable at work?
• Are you more interested in your friend’s career than your own?
• Are you constantly looking at the time, waiting for the day to end?
• Do you complain a lot about work?
• Do you see the glass as half empty?
• Do you have Sunday night blues?

If you hate your job, you have to do something about it. You need to figure out what is really causing these feelings and find ways of improving your situation. You may have to consider looking for another job where you will be happy. The one option that you don’t have, is to do nothing.

According to science, hating your job can affect your health in the following ways:

• It can cause weight gain.
• It can lower your immune system.
• It can ruin relationships.
• It can cause sleep deprivation.
• It can increase the risk of serious illnesses.

Understanding the causes behind your unhappiness is the first step to improving your circumstances. It is the light-bulb moment, where you can no longer ignore the situation. It is the opportunity to make life-changing improvements.

Every day you are faced with making decisions. Some are in our control and some aren’t. We can only make choices based on the things we can control.

Here are a few suggestions, to help increase happiness, that are within your control.

• You can choose how you are going to feel and how you respond to different situations.
• Often we react when we are triggered, or by negative events that cause us to defend ourselves. You always have a choice as to how you respond. For your own sake, it is best to remain calm, don’t judge, give the person the benefit of the doubt and where possible, remain empathetic and respond with compassion.
• You can choose to leave the past behind you. If you had a bad day yesterday, that is OK. Remember that was yesterday, today is a new day. Obsessing about the past is a negative mental reaction. You can always choose to remain positive.
• Choose work situations where you can surround yourself with positive people. Avoid negative situations and people who bring you down.
• Accept your failures, learn from them and move on.
• You can choose to live peacefully. This means, not comparing yourself to others and being grateful for who you are and what you have.
• Choosing to be happy, requires you to change your current behaviours, thoughts and habits. The one question, recommended by Dr. Phil, and that I always ask myself is, “How is this working for me?”, and if it isn’t then, “What do I need to do to change the situation?”

Remember, most things in life are a choice, your choice, so choose wisely.

I too hated one of my jobs. I wasn’t the only one in the organization who was dissatisfied, but nobody seemed to do anything about it. I remained for a lengthy period of time, because I felt stuck. The best thing that happened, was my leaving. Now I love what I am doing. Not every day is a great day, but overall, I am truly happy.

I have to make choices every day. I mostly focus on the positives and choose to make the best of every situation. I try to remain calm, (most of the time) even though this isn't easy for me. I continue to try to handle difficult situations with less emotion, and let the things that are beyond my control, go quickly. It isn't always easy, but I keep on making improvements along the way.

One thing I do know for sure, is that being unhappy at work, is just no longer an option for me.

Mentors Insync provides the right kind of mentoring as a solution to supporting employees. If you are interested in finding out more, please visit our website or contact us at: info@mentorsinsync.com.