Welcome back to the final installment of this series on how to get unstuck. In this segment, we’ll be looking at how to get unstuck at work. Fortunately, the tip I’m giving you today applies to any kind of work, whether you’re currently in a full time career, temp job, own your own business, network marketing, or any kind of employment situation.
Odds are, if you feel stuck at work, it’s because you’re currently not doing the kind of work your heart longs to do. This can happen for a number of reasons. For example, do any of these apply to you?
You took a job that’s not your dream job because you needed employment/money- You used to like/love your job, but it/you have changed and your passion for it is gone
- Someone you adore no longer works with you, so it’s not the same anymore (this happens a lot!)
- You don’t yet know your passion, but it’s definitely not what you’re currently getting paid to do
- You’ve discovered your passion, but you’re not sure how to transition from your current career into your passion
- Your new boss/coworker is a jerk
- You’ve outgrown this job/business
- You are bored/not challenged
- You got passed over for a promotion
- The company’s been bought out/restructured/changed policy
- The market/economy has changed and/or there have been regulation changes
- Paperwork has increased
- People left/were downsized and now you’re doing the work of two people
- Raises/bonuses didn’t happen or were disappointingly low this year
- You got a bad performance eval
- You have new responsibilities you don’t particularly care for
- Or any other number of reasons that affect your current employment
You may even find that several of the above relate to you and your situation. Good news! There are several ways you can get unstuck. For example:
- Start looking for new employment, even if you have no intention of leaving. In many cases, the mere act of evaluating what else is out there can get you unstuck and sharpen your focus.
- Start a side business around your passion.
- Take a class or workshop related to your passion.
- Join a club or Meetup group to meet people who are also interested in what you are passionate about.
- Do something different for lunch. If you normally eat lunch at your desk, try packing a lunch to eat outside, or eat in a different part of the building, away from your office. If you normally go out to lunch with co-workers, start packing your lunch or drive/walk to a nearby park instead. Invite a friend outside of work to meet you for lunch. Mix it up.
- Think about this: What is missing from your current employment? What would you need more of in order to feel inspired at work? And here’s a hint: money is likely not the answer. There’s something more that you want – maybe you want to know you’re making a difference, or helping people, or maybe you want more comraderie at work, or more kindness and harmony, or maybe you want to do work that is more challenging.
- Write out your answer to the questions above. Rank them in order of importance, related to what would most make a difference in how you feel about your work.
- Your next step is to make that happen. Talk to your boss, your board of directors, yourself if you own your own business. If you sit down with your boss and tell him/her you’d like more challenging work, and they say no, start looking for a new job. Because that business is not going to stick around with lame leadership like that! Any employee who asks for more challenging work, or what that makes a difference helping people is most likely going to get just that! Consider that your boss doesn’t know you’re bored/feeling meaningless/etc.
Yes you can get unstuck! Try out some of these tips and let me know how it works out for you.
Go for it.
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