If you spend most of your working day thinking “I hate my job” then you’re not alone.
An extensive survey carried out by the Conference Boards Consumer Research Center a couple of years ago suggests that more people are unhappy with their jobs than at any other time the last twenty years.
Most Americans Hate Their Jobs
The statistics vary according to age group, with older people generally being happier in their work. Maybe we’re more likely to have found a job we like as we grow older, or maybe we have just learned to accept our situation for what it is.
The shocking figures are as follows:
o Less than 39 percent of Americans under 25 are satisfied with their jobs
o Less than 45 percent of Americans aged 45 to 54 are satisfied with their jobs
o Less than 50 percent of Americans over the age of 55 are satisfied with their jobs
However, twenty years ago when the survey was first conducted 61 percent of all Americans said they were satisfied with their jobs. It looks like things are getting worse.
The Problem of Unhappy Employees
If so many employees hate their jobs then this isn’t good for anyone, including their employers. How is an unhappy employee going to be motivated enough to be productive and produce quality work? The answer is that they’re not.
Unless we’re happy, inspired and fulfilled by the work we do then it just turns into drudgery and this is what so many people are experiencing on a daily basis.
Spending 8+ hours a day doing a job we hate isn’t going to make us into happy productive people. It’s turning most people into bitter, unhappy people who dream of quitting their jobs so they can spend time doing something they enjoy, but they don’t know how.
So What’s the Answer?
The answer isn’t simple I’m afraid but we do have a number of choices. We can continue to look for work which we might find more rewarding and many people are happy to do this. However, I don’t believe this is a real solution for most people.
Some people might eventually find a job which they find bearable or even enjoy sometimes, but that’s about as good as it gets for most employees.
Others dream of winning the lottery, this being their only hope of ever quitting their job. They call the lottery a “poor peoples tax” and that’s all it is. The odds of winning are shockingly low and it shouldn’t even form part of your plans for quitting your day job.
The Most Powerful Solution
The most powerful of solutions is to find something you’re passionate about first and foremost. It could be a hobby, interest or just something you’d like to pursue.
Then you need to turn it into a side business with which you can test the water in your spare time when you’re not working your day job.
Don’t expect it all to work out at the first attempt, it most probably won’t. Be persistent, try different things, learn all you can about your chosen business, learn all you can about your customer demographics, find out what they actually want before trying to sell them anything, change your mindset away from being an employee, develop a business mindset.
Most importantly have dreams of doing something you’re passionate about for a living, write down those dreams and take action to make those dreams a reality.
It’s Within Your Capabilities
If I were to tell you that all this is easy then I’d be misleading you, it isn’t. However, neither is it beyond your capabilities, you can do it and many people do.
I truly believe that the first step to freeing yourself from a job you hate is by learning that there is another way. Remove yourself from your old ways of thinking, after all it’s those old ways of thinking that got you into this situation in the first place.
Develop a business mindset and you’ll see things differently. You’ll see opportunities that you previously didn’t know existed, you’ll make your own opportunities and you’ll act upon them. It’s at this point that life becomes exciting again.
Too many people accept a job they hate as a way of life. Don’t be willing to accept this. Your day job is something temporary you need right now to pay the bills. But that’s all it is, your energies should be focused on something more productive, making your dreams a reality.
| Jason is a freelance Software Engineer who is a keen blogger, has run a number of online businesses and is also in the property letting business. His interests include researching and teaching the business mindset, his goal being to learn all there is to know about how to be a successful entrepreneur and to pass this information on to others. For more information visit: http://www.BusinessMindsetExpert.com or follow him at http://Twitter.com/JRKtm |
Comments (0)
Aug 22 2010
