As a career coach, I’ve met with over a thousand men and women in a range of occupations and at all organizational levels. I start every session with a new client with the question: “So how would you rate your overall satisfaction with your work and career on a scale of 1 – 10?”

The responses to this opening question are always telling. I’ve noticed people consistently report similar feelings and experiences that can be associated with how they rate their work satisfaction along the 1 – 10 satisfaction scale (1 =low, 10=high).

When your rating is 5 or below it typically means you are experiencing a lot of stress and you probably aren’t leaving it at the office at the end of the day. People report dreading going to work, waking up at 4:00 a.m. obsessing about it and their self-esteem is taking a hit.

People report a host of personal impacts related to poor job fit, dealing with imposed change, clashing work and leadership styles and difficult relationships at work.  When people report a satisfaction level of 5 and below they are usually feeling some significant pain, stress and frustration with their work situation. They usually have been trying to improve it, or hoping it will change for a while.

When people tell me their current satisfaction is 5 or below, my experience has shown me they are usually best served by focusing on finding their “next job” – not holding out for the perfect job. How come?

If you are at 5 or lower, accept you are in a storm and do what you need to do to get through it, and to a better place. Lower your expectations about your next job if it will be in the service of making a choice in your best interest. People can get paralyzed by holding higher standards than are necessary and end up stuck in a role that isn’t working, and becoming increasingly demoralized.

As you descend below 5 along the 1-10 satisfaction scale you are living a work experience that creates wounds and war stories. This isn’t the time to muse about what “could be”’ – because you can’t afford to wait. You also may be damaging your career and reputation by staying in a negative situation.

The next job doesn’t have to be a promotion to justify leaving your current one. Shoot for at least a 6 out of 10 job as your next one. These 6 out of 10 jobs are the functional  “OK” jobs. The beauty of these jobs is they give you a chance to regroup and feel good about yourself at work again.

What are your “must haves” to be at a 6 out of 10? Think about how you can leverage your strengths and experience to create more choices and options. Look for roles that are in your wheelhouse and meet your minimum requirements for reasonable work (i.e. work that doesn’t drain you and require a support team to stay afloat.) Once you are settled you will have the time and energy to be more strategic about your next move.

Now, if the perfect job appears while you are looking for the next one – fantastic, but it’s not mandatory to make a move in the right direction.   Remember, careers are more like marathons, not sprints. Every one’s career story has ups and downs and progress isn’t always linear.

How would you rate your job on a scale of 1-10? Is it time for you to make a move?

I recently started working out at a health club with a personal trainer. I have never worked with a personal trainer. The truth is I’ve never challenged myself physically like I have pushed myself in other areas of my life. I’m also not naturally comfortable in a fitness club. I don’t understand the equipment and I don’t know what to do with ropes and big plastic balls.

Gym class was not my place to shine as a kid. I dreaded it and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I didn’t like the outfits or the physical exertion. I also didn’t like doing things I wasn’t good at and I didn’t get any joy out of jumping jacks.

Up until about five years ago my health focus was merely to exercise and eat well enough to stay slim.  Lately, the realities of aging are making me much more interested in staying strong – not just slim. These days I’m thinking more about how I want to experience life 10 years from now. I’m thinking about what I’m in control of influencing with my personal health and lifestyle choices.

So here I am now, a mature woman, ready to give the gym another shot. It strikes me that I’m employing all the same strategies I use when I’m ready to learn anything new that’s challenging. First, I don’t hesitate to get help. And I seek help from credible and competent people so I can surrender to their direction.

I know I need guidance to navigate through this new world. I need someone to hold me accountable to show up when the novelty wears off. I need the most help while I’m fumbling along not being that good at something and keep discovering what I don’t know. I also want someone with a sense of humor.

My new trainer Joel fits the bill perfectly. I have to say I’m shocked by how much I am enjoying my 6 a.m. workout. Exercising so intensely that early in the morning doesn’t seem like what “someone like me” would actually like doing. I’m noticing how my identity is shifting toward identifying myself as someone who likes to work out.  I’m noticing my beliefs about my own capabilities are changing.

When I started working with Joel he put me through several fitness assessments. The point was to give him information about muscles I needed to strengthen. He needed this information to design a program for me to increase my range of motion. As we began the workouts, I noticed every time Joel demonstrated a new exercise a voice in my head would say “oh – this isn’t me.”  I know if I was by myself I wouldn’t even bother trying it.

Now, because Joel is standing over me watching (and I’ve paid him) I don’t resist. What I keep finding out is – “yes indeed I’m capable of that movement” – and it is a revelation. Isn’t it astounding how powerful our beliefs are in shaping how we experience life?

In what areas do you want to get stronger, and increase your range of motion in your work and life? What’s stopping you from trying? Who else, beside you, might benefit if you do?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jane

PS

Please check out my NEW “Renew You – 90 day coaching program”  This is a balanced, well-crafted program that guides you through a three-step process over a course of 90 days.  Intrigued? CONTACT ME for a complimentary consultation.

Well summer is officially over and everyone I’m meeting is shifting into “back to school” mode. September always signals new beginnings.  I’ve been reflecting about how important it is to collaborate with others to succeed at work. Sometimes this results in some unlikely alliances.

Here’s how my work story started. Right after I graduated from university I finished first in a selection process to get my first job. My spectacular interview performance put me on the “she’s the one to watch” list and my future looked bright. Despite a promising start, my entry into the world of work turned into a nightmare.

I experienced what happens when you don’t get the training you need to learn a complex job. I experienced first-hand the hell of high expectations to produce, yet receiving minimal direction and support. What a humbling experience. I didn’t have past work successes to balance what I was experiencing in this first job.

It was a horrible feeling wanting to do a great job but not having the support to get it right. What a rude awakening and confidence shaker for anyone – especially your first real job.  I was absolutely mortified watching older adults behaving so badly. There were so many lessons to learn about office politics. If this was being a grown up I wanted out. It was all so disappointing and I couldn’t help but feel like a failure.

Lucky for me a few important things happened that turned things around. A chain smoking older employee with a military background named Ida took me under her wing. She swooped in and taught me what I needed to know to do the job right and showed me the ropes. Under a cloud of constant smoke Ida straightened me out and gave me the direction and support required to master the job.

My shaky start also got me very interested in how to create a different learning experience for someone new to a job.  I also realized this was the most work I’d ever done ever to just be average. I knew this work was not my place to shine. I could see that easier once my work performance improved and I wasn’t just preoccupied by the fear of failing.

I am still so grateful to this woman. We had absolutely nothing in common outside of work but she was a great teacher. And she didn’t have to help me either. It wasn’t in her job description but she cared that I was struggling and offered to help.

I never forgot her generosity and I’ve tried to pass it on. I have seen that same stricken look on young people coming into the workplace all the time. Workplaces can be brutal. There is so much more to learn that they don’t teach you in school.

This wasn’t the last time I reached out and received what I needed from someone who was different than me. Teachers come in many forms. Who has been your most unlikely teacher? How has building relationships been critical to your success? When was the last time you did an inventory of your relationships at work?

 

 

We all experience ups and downs and lulls in our work life. Monday morning usually feels different than a Friday afternoon. It is normal for your feelings about work to fluctuate over the course of a week for a lot of reasons. For example, never judge your job based on how you feel the first day back after a long weekend or from your vacation. What we need to notice is how we feel about our work the majority of the time.

How we feel about work overall can be anywhere between agony and enjoyment. This can change over time depending on how well our work fits with what we need it to fulfil in our lives. Workplaces are changing constantly too.We can stay in the same job yet our work, our boss and organization can change without our permission. Any one of these changes can significantly add or subtract from our career satisfaction.

The quality of our experience at work deserves our attention. Work is where most of us spend our prime years and the bulk of our time. Doesn’t it make sense to focus on making it as satisfying as possible?

In order to manage your career successfully it helps for you to be honest about what you enjoy and what you don’t enjoy in your current work and take a periodic inventory. Then you can take some informed action to make yourself more content where you are, while you think about and take action on new directions.

Remember that it’s very important when making changes in our lives to move from a position of strength. The position of strength is leading with a conscious choice toward what we want to experience.  It is easier to move forward when we identify more with what we want than what we don’t want.

Focusing on what is within our control and taking action is energizing and the way to reclaim our power at work. The questions below are aimed at helping you identify three actions you can take to get more of what you want to experience at work.

So, where are you on the continuum of agony to enjoyment? What factors most contribute to how you feel at work? Simply answer the questions below to find out and take your next indicated steps for more joy at work.

What % of your time at work are you feeling: enjoyment; in between; or miserable?

What would you say most contributes to your enjoyment at work?

What would you say most contributes to your misery at work?

What three actions can you take in your current situation to experience more enjoyment at work?