Can you fall in love with your job? (Pt.2)

Why Does Your Job Bother You?

Believe me, it’s very rarely the money although most of us think that’s a big factor.

If you haven’t already read yesterday’s post Can you fall in love with your job? please do – it only takes 2 minutes, and sets the scene for this one.

So, once you’ve written your list of what bothers you, read it a few of times over the next 24 hours as this will help you understand the ‘why’ behind each one. The real ‘why’ – not just because it annoys you, or undermines you, or doesn’t pay well, but rather, see if there is a more emotional reason – such as it reminds you of a time when you were bullied as a child, or reminds you of someone saying you weren’t good enough or trying hard enough.

These associations can have powerful effects on our state of mind, and we can often blow things out of proportion because of them. We all need to be really honest with ourselves as we explore this. A bad association from the past can leave a hair trigger in our subconscious if we let it.

Considering these three questions about why you chose your job will help:

1.Is this the job you dreamed of as a kid?

2. Is this something you stumbled into or maybe were groomed for by a parent or sibling?

3. Did you choose this job just because you needed the work?

If it was what you dreamed of, then in what ways is it not working out as you planned or hoped? It might be the people, maybe some difficult aspects of the work you hadn’t considered, or is it the working environment you don’t like?

If it is something you’ve stumbled or been coerced into, then is it what YOU really want. Who are you trying to please and why? What would happen if you decided to quit?

If it’s just a job because you needed to DO something, what would have to change for you to love it? Are there aspects of it that you do like?

Exploring the answers to these three questions could make it clear ‘why’ you’re dissatisfied right now. Read your list of what bothers you and ask ‘Why does that bother me?’ after each one. Your subconscious will offer up reason after reason, and it probably won’t be the first thing you think of. So as you come up with a reason ask again: ‘Why does THAT bother me?’ and so on until you happen upon a reason that really makes sense. A core reason.

For me I started by thinking that the long hours were what bothered me, then the pressure of constant deadlines, then the interference from my boss in the planning.

As I continued asking ‘why’, all reasons came back to my feeling stifled creatively, and not feeling like I was in control of my own destiny.

Hopefully this exercise will help you discover ‘why’ your present job bothers you and tomorrow we’ll go on to the last part of this article: How You Can Change It.

Enjoy

Stu

🙂

Related posts:

Can you fall in love with your job? (Pt.1)

Can you fall in love with your job (Pt. 3)