How to Enjoy Your Job

Everyone works. It’s a fact of life. 
 
 

You may have to work in order to provide for yourselves and your families, but a working life can be so much more than just this. Work can give you an opportunity to shine and to grow, as well as providing a means for a living. It can provide you with self esteem and fulfilment as an adult, and as a member of society. The world is constantly reinvented by people’s work so it can be exciting and fulfilling. Work doesn’t just have to be a way to pay the bills. But so often people are held back by a blinkered view of their capabilities and the possibilities of what work they can do.

Individuals are capable of having brilliant ideas and implementing them, which can make the world an exciting and fulfilling place. You can learn new things, develop and grow. You can use your experience to gain more, take initiative and find more fulfilment in your work. You can contribute to others as well as to your own self development and find meaning in what you do every day.

But many people don’t enjoy their jobs and don’t know how to change the situation. You may be one of those people…  

If so, CONGRATULATIONS! 

You have taken the first step in moving towards the day you will enjoy your job.

This book has come from 11 years searching for happiness in my own work. I have experienced the highs and lows of starting my own business (more than once!), worked as an employee in offices, and volunteered for charities. My search for the right job has taught me so much about myself as well as the requirements for enjoying my work. Some of the processes along the way have been painful, but important to the journey. As I have retrained, travelled and soul-searched, I have come to realise that there are significant actions and factors that are responsible for establishing job satisfaction. I believe they are worth sharing for anyone who wants to work and be happy too. In reading this book, I hope that your search will also lead you to greater job enjoyment.

The result of my own search is to enjoy my job with the aim of also helping you to enjoy yours. 

This book is a not a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme or a way to leave work altogether. It is about helping you find meaning and happiness in the job you do now, or in the career you would like to have. It is for anyone who has a job they are not entirely happy with, and for those who want to make a change for the better. It contains ideas and tips for a happier and more fulfilling working life with easy-to-follow diagrams and processes that you can use right now to start making changes.

This book is a call to action! 

You can take some personal actions now to improve your working situation by implementing some of the strategies and tips within this book. It has been written in order to help you get started on the process of making your working life better.

How to read this book

It can be read from beginning to end in chapter order, but you can also navigate your own path based on your particular problems with work. 

Part 1 outlines the problem of workplace unhappiness and how it is affects health as well as sanity. You are not alone in the way you feel about work!
 
Some people say that you just have to accept the way work is nowadays, but the statistics on workplace stress as well as obesity and depression show that this has to be taken personally.

Part 2 focuses on how you can make some changes right now to enjoy your job. The chapters are specifically targeted at the most common problems people have around their jobs. It focuses on self-development to help you through boredom and enable you to identify and follow other opportunities. It will show you how to take control of your stress and use strategies to manage and reduce it.  There are specific chapters for when you are feeling under-rewarded or trapped in your current situation, as well as how to deal with difficult people at work. Additionally, there are ideas to help you take control of your finances and make the most of your money in order to maximise your choices in life.

Part 3 addresses some areas you can focus on if you don’t want to change your job right now. Life is more than work. It may not be possible to change your work situation, but changes can be made in other parts of your life in order to make you happier. There are guidelines on enhancing your work/life balance by developing new skills and creativity, and focussing on areas outside of work.

Part 4 is designed to help you to get a different role or a completely different job, maybe even in a new field. It is about finding out what you really want to do, about who you are and what would be best for you. The Career Change Process is an easy-to-follow map for changing your career, and includes ideas on how to implement those changes. There are also chapters on goal setting and achieving as well as the practicalities of improving your resume, interview skills and options for the future. 

There are many reasons why people don’t enjoy their jobs so not all chapters will be relevant to you. To find the most useful chapters, identify the key categories that apply to you in the following list and then use “The Path to Job Satisfaction” diagram to select the appropriate chapters.

There is also a FREE Companion Workbook that you can download from www.HowToEnjoyYourJob.com. This workbook contains areas for you to write down your thoughts and answers to the questions within the book, as well as copies of the key diagrams for you to fill in yourself. There are related exercises in the workbook whenever you see the Workbook icon as follows.

So let’s get started!

Which of these categories apply to you?

Tick all those that relate to your situation. Most people will find there is more than one.

Each category has some recommended chapters so you can skip straight to them rather than reading from cover to cover.