Most of our lives are spent working, that amounts to around 50% of our total waking hours during any given day! Therefore, if you are dissatisfied with your employment it is likely to cause a great sense of overall discontentment in your life.
According to a 2017 survey conducted by Gallup 85% of workers worldwide hate their jobs! That’s a lot of people who effectively hate 50% of their daily life.
What’s becoming interesting is that so many of us dream of a more fulfilling career and perhaps even move into new roles, only to find after some time the familiar feeling of dissatisfaction has followed them, and the cycle continues.
There are many roles out there that have the potential to provide fulfilment. For example the role of a non executive director in the charity sector can provide a wonderful opportunity to lead the way in making a difference to a worthy cause.
Yet, so many feel unhappy in their chosen roles – why?
The answer is simple, the roles or company’s we choose are often not the main problem!
If you’re feeling a lack of contentment, perhaps you’re looking in the wrong place for the source.
Outer V Inner World
Often, we focus on what’s happening externally to us and how that is making us feel internally. What we sometimes ignore is what is happening internally that is making us feel this way inside.
Investing time in your own personal development and overall health and wellbeing can be the difference that makes the difference in all aspects of your life. When we seek to discover the root cause of our unhappiness, big changes can occur.
Personal Investment
Thankfully, the shift to a more personal development driven business is beginning to gain momentum. Let’s face it where there is demand…! More and more businesses are acknowledging that investment in their employees’ health and wellbeing is essential to delivering successful business outcomes.
Therefore, companies offering these opportunities can be a great choice.
Still, exploring your own personal development needn’t be dependent on your employer. You can simply seek out resources for yourself – videos, books, articles, coaches, courses, therapists – there are many options to choose from.
Source of Unhappiness
In order to find more fulfilment in your career, it can be wise to work out the true source of your dissatisfaction.
To uncover what it is about your role or company that is not fulfilling you, requires you to be open to the possibility that it may or may not be to do with either and might actually more to do with how it makes you feel.
What is it specifically about your role or company that you dislike? Perhaps it’s a particular person that causes you frustration or certain behaviours of another. If so, what is it about their behaviour that you find frustrating? How do they make you feel?
It can be useful to seek sources of help, such as a coach to help facilitate this self-exploration.
Knowing What You Need
Do you know what needs to happen to feel more fulfilled in your current career? What in an ideal world would you like to happen? What would make you feel fulfilled?
Understanding our core values, i.e. what’s important to us in our lives, can be a great exercise to undertake with the help of a coach. Answering the question ‘what is important to me about this area of my life?’ can help you to uncover what’s important to you in both your life and your career and what needs to happen to bridge the gap.
Change Your Approach
When you know what it is specifically about your role or company you dislike and what you need in order to be more fulfilled, it’s time to decide if you want to change the way you approach the situation to see if you can get a different result or if you need to move on to find it somewhere else.
For example, if you don’t feel valued, if you haven’t already done so, try communicating this in some way to the source. One thing you can be certain of is if someone doesn’t know there is a problem or that you’re feeling a particular way, they won’t change their behaviour or approach.
Another example might be if you feel you’re underpaid. Have you asked for more money or what future progression opportunities are available to you?
If you have directly approached these issues but not received the response you need, then it may well be time to look for something that provides the things most important to you. Or perhaps you need to say it in a different way?
If you find there are fears surfacing and holding you back from taking the necessary action, maybe this is something else to work through with a coach.
And finally, if you end up finding that it is more related to your personal life, making this area a priority will do wonders for balancing the rest of your life and help you feel more fulfilled at work.
