Three strategies to regain energy and motivation in that job that’s taking you down
Same story, same refrain. From the honeymoon of the beginning, you have become, over time, seriously skeptical about your job.
Nothing is going right around you. Nothing is clear. No sense of direction. Decisions don’t make sense, or there is a vacuum because no one is deciding. To your great dismay, the main thing for you seems to be “priority 33” for your leaders.
So you can’t help but talk about your frustrations in meetings. Which often earns you a disapproving look. And if it’s not in a meeting, it’s in the cafeteria. Or at the dinner table at home!
Freeze frame: how do you feel when you read these lines? Stuck? Wonderful! That was the intention. Keep this feeling in mind.
Breaking out of the negative spiral
There is a strategy to regain the energy of your early days and make the best of the situation. Although a bit controversial from some angles, it works wonders nonetheless.
What if you could do quality work, make progress, and accomplish projects while dealing with the problems around you? What if you could approach your work from a distance? Find satisfaction again? Sleep peacefully and take each day with calm and enthusiasm, whatever the “menu” is?
What does the thought of this provoke? Do you feel your stomach muscles relax, and a smile come over your face?
Even better! Do you notice how quickly your energy rises or falls? When nothing has moved in your reality for the last 5 minutes? And this, without vitamins or a restful night’s sleep?
Three strategies that give you back the power
Your energy follows your attention, your consciousness. In a previous post, we trained your focus. I hope you are practicing diligently, by the way! More precisely, we were teaching it to come back to the task of the moment. So what if the mission of the moment is a terrible, unproductive, and frustrating session for you?
Do you notice how quickly your energy can go up and down without your tangible reality moving one iota?
We will discover that we can go much further than gaining efficiency and concentration with a well-trained mind. We’ll learn how to direct it. And, just as you just changed your mood in 2 minutes, you can change your reality with a bit of practice.
Strategy 1: let go of the grand illusion that locks you in
A few years ago, I was in charge of a project that was not exactly inspiring. So I decided, probably a little naively, to see the Big Boss, looking for a way to “re-mobilize the troops”. The platitudes served up to me brought frustration, disappointment, not to say a big disillusion. Aaah, I so often dreamt that some things would move, that attitudes would change!
The truth is that the probability of that change is almost zero. So, what if you start from the premise that your organization is dysfunctional? Rider? In reality, this view is liberating. And rather wise! My word as an organizational development consultant! It allows you to eliminate expectations that are often the source of frustration. Abandoning the idea that solutions will come from above or outside can only be a source of “good surprises”! No? Instead? What if you looked at your employer with a consultant’s eyes? With a healthy distance from its imperfections? What would that change for you?
In this laboratory/playground, everyone does the best they can with their cards. Remember that you only have your cards in your hand! Letting go of the idea that things have to be a certain way removes a blockage, a tension within you, and allows the energy to flow again. One thing is for sure, that which resists persists! See what do you need to consider differently to change your situation?
Strategy 2: Make the choice that changes everything
The first strategy invites you above all to a form of letting go. To relaxation and release. A bit of a rude awakening, perhaps. But this is only the starting point.
In such a situation, the real question is the following: do you want to let your energy, your satisfaction depend on the context in which you evolve?
Choose to stop letting your energy depend on elements that are not under your control (the weather, the mood of your colleagues, the excellent organization of your company, etc.).
Don’t let your energy depend on elements that are out of your control.
Remember earlier how quickly your energy went down and then back up again when you read three lines of text? Learn to direct your attention only to what is in your hands and what carries you. What motivates you, your goals, what matters to you — and that can be your professional goals! Also, focus on the positive, what works, what you can be satisfied with, what you can be grateful for. The rest does not exist. Or not anymore. It is a choice that will transform your daily life. If the reflex to see the negative comes back, observe it and calmly bring your attention back to something more positive. Return to it again and again to change your inner state.
That’s how, in the discomfort of a job where I was starting to go around in circles and waiting for things to change, I decided to take Japanese lessons. Telling myself that this kind of “dead time” was an excellent opportunity to prepare a trip differently. And to let water pass under the bridge. The relaxation was immediate.
Strategy 3: change the story you tell yourself
Once you reframe your reality and focus on what is in your hands, the story can only change. The story you are going to tell, but especially the story you tell yourself. Take care of it! Make it your engine! Words count. They create images that create emotions that make… your reality!
Choose the story carefully: words count. They create the images that make the emotions that create… your reality!
Let’s be clear. It’s not about being overly positive: what is in your hands sometimes is the choice to look for another job. I changed my job back from Japan :-). That said, you are back in control and not suffering from the external situation. There, your stress becomes positive/constructive stress again (“there is an aftermath”).
So, what do you think? Are you living in chaos? Or are you increasing your ability to adapt?
In a nutshell,
Skeptical, a little disillusioned at work? Let go of the idea that your organization should be different from what it is. Without this idea, there is a natural relief, a distance, the disappearance of tension.
However, try to avoid the trap of resignation. From this angle, develop the art of “gaming the system.” Consciously choose where you put your attention. Which topics do you discuss and which you don’t even mention anymore. Focus on what matters to you. Again and again. And from there, build another reality. The one that gives you energy, the one that makes you move forward, the one that makes you grow!
So what about you? What do you need to let go of to regain energy and get back on track?
I look forward to reading your shares and comments!
Want to learn more? Get “The Five Secrets to Success & Fulfillment at Work”! Click here!
This post was originally published in French on the blog www.theworklab.org.
