Employment – Love it or Leave it!

If you introduced your job as your significant other what would that sound like for you? Would you even want anyone to meet your job? Employments are a lot like relationships and like a relationship, you may spend a large part of your life there. When you consider the type of relationship you want, the type of person you want to be with, you generally have a mental list of things you desire and things you’re not going to put up with. However when it comes to employment I’ve seen people kill themselves for years on pennies at a job that takes advantage of them all in the name of bills or fear. But just like relationships, you don’t have to stay in something that doesn’t add value to your life.

If you’re currently looking for a job, or looking for a job change, I challenge you to seek it out like the potential love of your life. Ask yourself what you want out of your job. What sort of schedule do you want, want kind of pay do you want, what is the end goal for the effort put in? Are you dating around to gain some experience or are you looking for a steady place to help your dreams come true? It may sound silly from this perspective but if you really consider it, a job has just as big of an impact on your life as being with the wrong person.

If you’re already in the work force you should still take inventory of your life and future where you’re at. It’s a common expectation to be a slave to a job, to hate Mondays, to count down the days to retirement. What no one may have actually told you is that this is not the only way – in fact, it’s not the way at all. There’s so much precious life out there to live and you were not put on this earth to bless us with your 9-5 efforts. There are things you may be passionate about that seem out of reach, so you settle into a job you hate just to pay the rent – the same way people settle into miserable relationships just so they don’t have to be lonely.

If money is holding you back then you will be happy to know that money is an easily fixable problem. Using myself as an example here, obviously I have to have a job right now because I have a car payment and some debt I’m paying off. But the light at the end of the tunnel is that once I pay the debt off (which is currently projected to be by the end of year) my job “needs” are going to change. If you were able to cut your bills in half right now would you still need your job? This post isn’t about money, although I could go on about it for ages but the point is money shouldn’t be the reason you are stuck at a job. If it is then do something about it.

Fear can keep a person in a miserable place. If you’ve been at your job for years changing may seem like a stupid thing to do. I’ve heard the excuses, “I don’t want to have to start over somewhere else”. This is silly talk. If the goal at the end of it all is to eventually not have to work, what difference does it make if you start over somewhere else? And if you had to start over at a job that ultimately makes you happy, wouldn’t that be worth the change? Change itself can keep someone at a job. We are creatures of habit that hate being taken out of our comfort zone. Sometimes the mere thought of trying something different or working with new people or a new manager makes us feel like where we are now may not be so bad. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side but maybe where you work there isn’t grass at all!

Take 5 minutes and think about your job right now. Do you love this employment? Is this relationship all give and no take? Can you see yourself spending the rest of your life with this place? Is it pushing you to be a better person or turning you into someone you don’t want to be? Be honest with your answers and make the changes if and where you need to. ❤

Photo By: Nick Fewings