DAY 78 - ARE YOU YOUR JOB?

Day 78

A couple of months ago, the Globe and Mail published an article that described two types of workers.  Those who ARE their work and those who DO their work.  If you are part of the first category, you are definitely blessed with luck.  Your work is actually an extension of you and therefore, you can flourish within your work environment.

I AM my work.  I have the opportunity to use many facets of my personality while teaching.  I am a sociable extravert, I hate feeling trapped (I could never work in an office), I love discovering new cultures, I love sharing my knowledge, I love learning, I love having discussions on different topics.  Teaching English as a second language to a majority of immigrant adults really fits with my character traits.  As a result, my work really fulfils me.

We spend the major part of our lives at work, so it is rather important to find some joy in it.  If the work itself does not correspond to your personality, it becomes more challenging to find happiness in it.  More and more companies are looking for ways to increase the happiness level of their employees.  Although, they’re mostly doing it to increase productivity, everyone benefits from working in a positive environment.

Studies have shown that a majority of people who are happy in all other areas of their lives tend to also be happy at work.  So, working on being a well-rounded happy person, will have a positive impact on your satisfaction level at work. 

But what do you do when your work does not correspond to who you are and really makes you unhappy? If you have the means, you could either change jobs or go back to school and reorient your career. 

In the previous generation, most people stuck with their initial career choice for the rest of their lives.  At that time, people had job security.  When you found a job, you most likely kept it until retirement.   Nowadays, people sometimes have 2 or 3 careers during the course of their lives.  It takes courage to give up what you have for the unknown, but it is definitely worth the risk.  If it doesn’t work out, you can always go back. 

If you can’t leave your job, you need to find ways to make it better by making sure you can express your personality as much as possible in the context of your job.  Because of the amount of time spent at work, it is of utmost importance to be able to increase the level of happiness at work, whether it is through relationships,  the organization of all social events or  through the work itself.