Apparently last Monday was 'Blue Monday' - the low point following the Christmas and New Year break. It is apparently the time when we are hit with a combination of receiving the credit card bills detailing our indulgent spending and also the time when we realise another year is ahead and maybe we have already let slip on a couple of those New Year resolutions!I was reflecting on my past week at work (which included Blue Monday) and it has been an incredibly busy, hectic and tiring one. I am working on a client project at the moment and we are approaching some tight deadlines. I have worked 65 hours in 5 days which included not getting home until 1:30am on Thursday night.
However, I feel really good about it.....surely that shouldn't be the case!
Over a coffee yesterday with my coach (the company I work for connects everyone with an internal coach) I was chatting about my current project. I realised that the work I am doing right now ticks many of my career boxes and is providing me with real motivation. So much so that despite a few hours sleep I was happy to be back in work on Friday morning!
However, if you took away the motivation factor I would be looking back on the week through a very different set of eyes. I would be looking for ways to 'take something back' by going home early or moaning to my friends and colleagues. I was about to write that I am lucky, but actually I changed jobs last year following a re-evaluation of what I want to do and where I want my career to go.
The credit crunch is providing thousands of people with an opportunity to really evaluate whether their career path is really the one they have chosen or whether it is something they have drifted into. If it is the latter then Blue Monday probably takes place every week. Redundancy can provide a release from the 'golden handcuffs' - where people feel trapped in a job by the money and subsequent lifestyle. Family, mortgage and even status can provide people with a million reasons just to keep plodding along.
On the news this morning was a guy who had been made redundant early last year. Since then he has started his own business working on something he is passionate about. He was so enthusiastic that the presenter asked what motivated him. His reply was simple ' I am doing what I love doing'.
Are you doing what you love doing? If not then what are you going to change?
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2 comments:
It is so true that we should do what we love. I feel really sad when I hear people "wishing" it was Friday every Monday morning. Not only is that bad for them but they become workplace dementors to boot!
....I'm off to follow a rainbow
Great advice, I think more people need to get out there and find work that they love. Sometimes, especially right now, people are forced into finding something new after being laid off. HR Minion just posted about what to do after you've lost a job, and the best part of her advice was to look at it as an opportunity. A positive attitude will get you far!
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