Working for a Living? Revitalize Your Livelihood!

Most people I know work for a living. There are not a lot of folks out there paying bills and mortgages with no income - we must have money coming in, there is little choice about that. But how you create income is up to you. The trick about working for a living is to do something you want to do or fix what you are doing in order to get the most satisfaction from it. Because it is so easy to lose steam at work, even if what you work at is perceived to be a dream job, some revitalization is occasionally needed. Nobody wants to get sick of what they do, but it happens often.

Viral Office Attitudes
One thing to be aware of when losing steam is your immediate surroundings. If your attitude permeates to the extent of influencing others, they may take on a similar attitude. It's like when somebody brings a cold to the office and others get it. In the same way, people can take on a new attitude when they let their guard down, not just because it is 'in the air'. This is especially true when the person with the attitude problem is in a position of authority.

Work Isn't Hard if You Like What You're Doing
It's a difficult thing to feel trapped in a place of work when you really don't want to be there. It is even more difficult when your options for a change of scenery are burdened by recession, lack of motivation and fear of the unknown. Sometimes appreciation of a position comes only by comparison when you think: "It could be worse, I could be doing ________". The comparison can also come from actually quitting a job out of spite, going to work somewhere else, then asking for your old job back because you didn't realize how good you had it.

One excuse for the 'quit then get re-hired' scenario is that a person may only feel qualified to do what they know, so they 'stick it out' no matter how uncomfortable they get. Money is only one motivator in that kind of situation with the quality of the surroundings sometimes being more important. If the money is right and the surroundings are one-of-a-kind, work does not always seem like work, but a team effort to get things done in a fun way.

So, when somebody feels trapped, it is important for the person to think about the situation very rationally and create a plan to change it so they can get to a point where they actually like going in to work. This transition period can be tricky, however, as the person in question may cut a lot of corners and make their present business suffer as they daydream about their coveted position. That doesn't work well because why should somebody leave behind a mess for someone else to clean up?

Cleaning Up Your Mess
Whenever you leave a position, you leave something behind. That 'something' can be a system you had developed, a drawing on a napkin, a joke you used to tell or simply your way of doing things. Too often negative things are left behind such as a system nobody knew but you, angry customers, unfinished paperwork and the list goes on.

Remember, it's not about the job or the company all the time, it's about the people; it's about you. Why leave a mess for somebody else to clean up? That's inconsiderate with little chance of lingering respect being attached to your name. Even people we despise get respect because they did the right thing in their own way and that's something that is irrefutable, even if it wasn't to our advantage.

Not Just 'Work', 'Life's' Work
Adopting an attitude of 'life's work' or 'body of work' instead of merely 'work' (or 'job') can help revive the positive mental state originally brought in with a person to the work they were excited about in the first place.

"All things tend toward disorder" states the second law of thermodynamics. Entropy can happen everywhere and usually does, unless revitalization takes place now and then. This can mean a reinvention of oneself or one's position or career. With every revival comes excitement and that is the kind of excitement that should permeate through the air and be infectious to others.

Life's work should be difficult from time to time, like a battle. But, that would be the kind of battle from which it's worth showing off the scars.

- Buck Moore