How to be happy with your job?

Your fondness for your work – people may query you on this aspect deliberately but knowingly in a vague manner with the basic intention of discerning the direction you are heading to. Your response could well be Oh! Not at all’, ‘Not a great deal’, ‘Fairly good’, ‘A lot’ or ‘Totally’ if it is intended to be straightforward. Perhaps you could compare things by way of an unserious comment like ‘In fact, I prefer things easy but here they are not cool’. It is also likely that you start reflecting over facets that inspire you.

Hypothetically speaking, let us suppose that you are not happy with your job and are trying to look for another one. If at all you find one, will you be certain that things would be to your liking there? The issue of contentment is contingent purely on your attitude and hence your baby. If that be so, how will you make certain that you do not generate the same situation for yourself at the new workplace?

If you do not have a penchant for a particular work, you will always harbour a tendency to get fed up; dissatisfaction that will invariably follow will be the very cause of your breakdown and eventual collapse. Therefore, a pertinent issue that arises is how you devise a work that is to your liking. All job details amplify various attributes, abilities and proficiencies that are necessary for that particular appointment, but such explanation by themselves are not sufficient. You need to think about various other features and judge if the work and workplace environment goes with you or not.

It is you who is making a choice and thus the decision also has to be yours. If you ask for an honest response to the vexed question of your suitability for a specific job, you will get an honest answer, provided you are not influenced by extraneous factors. You have to look within yourself and cogitate. The process may not necessarily be time consuming, but has to be deliberate.  Some queries that you must raise with yourself are:

·   What is the degree of independence that you are seeking at work?

·   Will you be comfortable with superintendence and constant monitoring?

·   Will you be at ease with some or many people surrounding you at work?

·   What is the quantum of authorization do you need to perform optimally?

·   What is the type of support and endorsement you require for an assignment?

·   How much accountability are you willing to ascribe to yourself?

·   Are you okay with the degree of responsibility assigned to you?

·   What is the measure of ingenuity that the work promotes?

·   How much personal distinctiveness does the job endorse?

·   Do the creativity and individuality levels being offered go with your persona?

·   Are you a go-getter in the real sense?

·   Are you ruthless in attaining your objectives?

·   Are you always on the lookout for openings and breaks?

·   Does the job at hand stir up sensitivities to work better?

·    What exactly do you love doing and does the job in question stimulate you?

·   Who is it that you want to serve?

·    Whom do you want to benefit through your efforts?

·   How do organizational goals fit into your own scheme of things?

Professionals in the field of human resources vouch for workers who are sufficiently eligible, satisfactorily experienced and passably competent. Their outlook also has to be positive by all counts. Such employees stand chances of success much more vis-à-vis other types, particularly those possessing very extraordinary qualifications and imposing references. Mind-sets and dispositions imply a positive attitude towards work; therefore, discernment of what and whatever you are fond of is an inescapable requirement if you want to remain happy and contented. More importantly, the ways and means to achieve them should also be clear to you. Satisfaction is not a commodity that can be supplied; it is something that has to be carried along by you and nobody else.

Sometime or the other, we would have encountered worrywarts and complainers at workplace. They are the lot that makes you squirm and recoil. Well, they do deserve some sympathy because eventually they are headed to doom. But the issue is how can you bypass or ignore such negative people and be able to maintain your zeal and motivation? There are possibilities that some components of your work are disinteresting and hence they do not inspire you. But there will also be some aspects that inspire and egg you on. What are those aspects? You need to be aware of them so that their range and scope are enlarged on a day to day basis and bring about a diminution in the list of those that you find boring. And how do you do that? You need to look far ahead of your basic penchant to be convincing. Imagine this – what would things be like if everybody had access to whatever they dreamt of or yearned for? How would things be if working paid positive dividends to every single soul?

So addressing the title question – do you like your work? Put concisely and candidly, the how of it lies in the following actions that you should take:

·   Ascertaining what you actually crave for:  You need to identify various features, attributes and ideals that in your view are the most significant at present. You need to have an aim, a vision, and a goal. For the man sailing through life with no purpose, every wind is the wrong wind. Never ever forget that your destiny will be frequently met in the very tracks you avoid trudging on. If you give food to your dreams, a time will come when your dreams will nourish you.   

·   Opt for them:  There is absolutely no harm in demanding what you seek. You should inch forward to attaining them. It will not be presumptuous on your part to believe that you genuinely deserve them. Thereafter, go ahead with full steam; impediments en route should be spotted and eliminated. What you should not lose sight of is the fact that if you do not look for what you like, you will never find it, leaves aside tasting it because what is unsought goes undetected.

·   Do not engage yourself in aspects that you detest:  You should realize that there are options available to you and that there is no dearth of them. Windows of opportunity should be anticipated and you should not wait for someone else to open them for you.

The truth of the matter is that you are worthy of deriving pleasure from your work and experiencing the satisfaction that it offers. It is you and you alone who can gauge and quantify your own success. If others do it, it is simply their viewpoint and you have nothing to gain. Remember that success is always dependent on effort and that there is no success without hardship. And of course, enthusiasm and self-trust are its secrets.