Member-only story
I Loved Every Job I Had. Here’s How I Made Myself Happy Everywhere.
You can be happy at work. It’s up to you.
Social media is full of videos and articles about toxic work culture, employers' lack of concern for their workers, and other solid points. Corporate America (and Canada, not to mention Europe) has disenchanted many, and people are fighting back against toxic bosses and organizations that don’t value them. I’m all for it. In fact, I’ve changed several jobs precisely because of those exact issues.
I do, however, find a few topics quite controversial. One of them is some of the popular advice you hear a lot online:
“You only come to work to collect a paycheque.”
“You come in for 9 to 5, do your job and clock out. Nothing more.”
And my “favourite”:
“Your coworkers are not your friends.”
I get it.
In hindsight, this is good advice on so many levels. We get burnt out thinking our colleagues are our friends when it turns out they only care about themselves. Some even turn on us or snitch to the boss. We also shouldn’t make our jobs the sole focus of our lives; we are, in fact, collecting paycheques while working for someone else at a company that isn’t ours.