Have a bad day at work?

I encourage you to talk about what is meaningful to you instead.

You might not love everything about your job — the majority of Americans don’t. The good news is that this is not a prerequisite to finding value in your work.

Does something about your job have that definitive spark of meaning to it?

• You run your own non-profit organization where you can see the difference your efforts are making for thousands of people.
• You enjoy helping an elderly regular customer bag their groceries while catching up on life.
• You coordinate an enthusiastic team of colleagues and you feel proud of what you’ve accomplished together.
• You work a retail job and you like the challenge of finding a solution that makes the customer happy.
• You enjoy how your time spent analyzing data helps your less data-savvy team members make informed decisions.
• You provide personal home care for a family member, and you are happy to help someone you love continue to have a high quality of life.

When asked about your day, do you mention the things you found meaningful? Or, do you focus on the inconveniences?

Maybe you think nobody else cares. Maybe you fear the bitterness that others might feel towards you if they know that you actually enjoy your work. Maybe you worry that other people would think what you get excited about is boring. Maybe you think you don’t deserve to be happy. Maybe you are trying to mimic someone else’s version of success instead of noticing where you are at right now.

Or, maybe you have such unrealistic expectations about what work should be that you don’t even notice the things you do enjoy — things that are probably a result of effort and toil and all that crap you just want to scream about right now.

I get it. I really do. All work — especially work that you care about — takes effort. There isn’t meaning in doing something that takes no effort, sacrifice, or skill to accomplish.

The desire to blow off steam in a safe space is understandable. But, if this is the only way that you talk about work, it’s holding you back.

Inconveniences and annoyances at work are a reality. But, by focusing on these minor roadblocks, you are robbing yourself of the pleasure of talking about what you actually enjoy about a major aspect of your life. You also miss the opportunity to make valuable connections with others who care about the same things that you do.

And — perhaps most tragically — you keep yourself from having valuable insights about what you enjoy and the progress you are making on the work that is meaningful to you. And that can make your work seem meaningless.

The point is this: If you care about your work, you have a choice. You can talk about the obstacles. Or, you can talk about the reasons you are facing those obstacles in the first place.

Life is too short to focus on the annoying details of work when you are literally changing the world by being present and doing something that matters to you.

Don’t be too modest to admit that you find value in what you do. If you’re happy, own it. You might be worried about appearing full of yourself. And, yes, going around talking about how awesome you are is probably not going to be well received.

What you can do is talk about how awesome the work is.

You can express excitement about your work and express gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of it. You can encourage others to think about the things that are meaningful in their lives.

You can shift the lens from you to the things that have meaning to you. It’s really just about leaving your ego out of it. Expressing gratitude and doing things without an ego are two of Buffer’s values that continue to inspire me each day (and inspired me to write this article).

By changing the conversations you have about work to what is meaningful instead of what is unsatisfactory, you pivot your focus to what really matters. You inspire others to do the same.

So the next time someone asks you, “How was your day?” don’t complain. Focus on what is meaningful.