Read this if going to work pains you
Close your email inbox. Silence your ringer, flip your phone over, and turn the chitter chatter in your brain down three notches. Grab a piece of paper and a pen. Sit in stillness for a moment. Think about yourself, in your current job (and likely you’re reading this at your job, or spent the last 10-14 hours there, so it shouldn’t be too difficult).
Take a few deep breaths.
Ask yourself: How do I want to feel at work? (Listen for the answer and write it down.)
Then ask yourself: And how do I feel at work? (Write that down too.)
Likely, you want to feel fulfilled in some way. For you, that might mean satisfaction, enjoyment, impact, balance, growth, recognition, achievement, peace, or a combination of the above.
And it’s also likely that the way you’re currently feeling about your job is not all that positive – or at best neutral – most of the time.
When all is not well on the work front, it’s easy to get stuck focusing on how you got to this place, or whose fault it is, or how everything would be different if XYZ had or had not happened. But guess what? None of those things matter. What actually matters is figuring out what you do want and how to get there.
“Thanks Captain Obvious,” you think, “for solving the really tough part for me. Like I didn’t know that.”
So, do you know what you want? Did you get a clear answer when you asked yourself how it is that you want to feel in your job, and was it something you already knew? Are you clear on what your workplace and your role would need to look like to achieve those feelings? You know, time spent in Excel vs. PPT vs. Outlook, independent contributor vs. team leader vs. manager without the actual reporting relationships, heavily cross-functional role or not, team and boss dynamics, company culture and speed of execution. Work/life balance, commute, level of flexibility, how many meetings you sit in that could have been an email, and whether your boss values accomplishments over face time. If your answer is a resounding yes, then you’re a step ahead of the pack, you rock star.
If you don’t yet have that level of clarity, don’t worry — almost everyone else reading is in the same boat. You’re reading this article because you value being a happy high achiever, and right now you feel like you’ve dropped the ball on one or both of those descriptors. Maybe you realized you’ve been prioritizing career progression over happiness for far too long, or maybe you’re facing a new workplace obstacle that is setting you up for failure or stunting your professional growth or “just” making you miserable. But if you’re not so clear on what your ideal state is, it’s hard to assess the gap to your current circumstances and start making changes.
So what’s to be done? A few things. First:
Get clear on what the ideal future state looks like.
As the exercise at the beginning of this article suggests, doing so requires a few steps. First, you want to get clear on how you would ideally like to feel about your job most of the time. Reflect on which emotions put wind in your workplace sails and cause you to think, “It’s worth it!”
Next, think about what your day-to-day work life would need to look like in order to elicit the positive emotions you’ve just identified. How would you spend your time? What role would you play on your team? Who would you work with most closely, and how efficiently would you be able to execute? What would the company culture look like? What would be valued in the broader organization and within your own group?
If you’re struggling with this exercise, our free download can help.
Assess the current state.
Now that you know how you’d like your work life to look, objectively (do your best) appraise your present situation. Again answer the above questions, this time with the focus on your current state (the downloadable exercise will walk you through this too).
When doing this exercise, it’s also helpful to think about the intersection of your strengths and weaknesses with your likes and dislikes — the tasks or projects that we’re good at but no longer enjoy doing (or never did!) tend to contribute to our workplace discontent more and more over time, particularly if they offer no new challenges or growth opportunities and represent a meaningful portion of our workloads. The digital download contains an exercise I created called the “Ability-Enjoyment Axis,” which helps you think about the work you do from a different perspective and understand how much time you’re spending in role stagnation — or worse — versus in your personal “zone of genius.”
Compare the two.
Use your vision for your desired state and assessment of your current state to identify the key differences between the two. Write down all of your findings.
If this exercise seems difficult or intimidating, download our easy-to-use guide that breaks it down and walks you through each step.
Create a path forward.
Re-read and reflect on the key differences between your desired state and current state, and ask yourself the following questions:
What changes that would help me to enjoy my role more are either under my control or possible for me to influence directly?
What changes could I propose to my boss (or other leader, as appropriate) that would improve my enjoyment of my role in the next few months?
Is there a different role within my organization that would better align with my desired state and zone of genius?
Do I need to leave my organization in order to find a role where I can truly thrive? Is this something I should start to explore?
If you need more support
Answering the above questions is a great first step towards gaining clarity about why you’re unhappy in your current role. After completing the downloadable exercise or following the directions above, some of you may feel well-equipped to start implementing changes or exploring next steps to improve your work life. Go get ‘em! If you decide that looking outside your current organization will serve you best and are ready to land that next great role, we have the systems and tools to help you make it happen.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your findings, or if you’d like a partner to help you develop a more complete vision of your ideal role and find that position in the real world, a Happy High Achiever customized coaching program will give you the systems and support to do so. Schedule a free, 30-minute strategy call to learn more. If we’re a fit, I’d love to work together and help you thrive at work again!