How to Hate Your Job Less and Enjoy Your Life More: Setting Expectations and Taking Charge of What Is in Your Control
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Our work takes up the majority of our lives. It offers a huge opportunity to serve the world, giving us a deep feeling of purpose in life… or lack thereof.
As a society, we create environments that make it seem like we have to rush around. Constantly doing more and being busier.
This brings us into a cycle of suffering, then escaping. Exhaustion, then numbing.
This cycle of busyness and coping is not the blueprint of true success. It creates a prolonged dull and hopeless feeling that will greatly impact your health over time.
Once you understand that everything you do requires a sacrifice, you can start to weigh your decisions and act at a higher level of awareness.
Consciously choosing when, where, and how you do a certain task opens up new levels of freedom and attracts new, creative ideas.
Freedom and inspired creation is the recipe for a joyful, healthy life.
Be Honest… Do You Hate Your Job?
What do you think…
Does your entire life’s purpose also need to provide for you financially? Although that is what most of us would like, it isn’t always the case.
Being clear about your relationship with your work is what’s most important.
If you hate your job, but don’t see how you can survive without the consistent paycheck, be honest with yourself about what you can do.
You can carry on in that job, but you can say no to all the extra hours your boss expects you to put in, unpaid. You can show up fully on time and leave right on time instead of people pleasing your whole life away at something that doesn’t serve YOU.
When you are not clear about your relationship with your work, you end up running from yourself which makes it seem necessary to fill any free time you do have, numbing out and staying distracted.
With honesty, you can create clear boundaries around the physical hours you spend working and when you will allow work to take over your mental capacity.
With that honest plan set, now with the rest of your life, you can either:
1). Work on a new skill / career that does feel purposeful in hopes of gradually building it to take over the work you don’t love.
Or,
2). Schedule your free time with things that give your life meaning and value. Things that pull you into the present moment and light you up with a feeling of being ALIVE.
Many people say, “I don’t need purpose from my job because I feel purpose from my family” — being a great mom, sister, friend, wife, volunteer…
But if you look at their actions… they don’t spend hardly any quality time with these people. They spend their free time numbed out, drinking alcohol, and wasting hours away scrolling on their phone.
That’ll leave you feeling just as exhausted as your workday. Instead, schedule moments of connection.
Cook a beautiful meal for your family. Go out on a hike. Read a story or look at photo albums together.
Most of us rush around feeling like there’s never enough time to make a living AND enjoy quality time with loved ones.
All of life is meant to be enjoyed and experienced fully. Not to engage in a suffer-then-escape cycle.
Being real about your role in this world and where you get your happiness from can help you build a life full of beautiful presence. Plus it might help you see your job differently.
Rather than dragging yourself through every single shift with dread, you’ll see your reason for being there, which might help you see that joy and beauty are surrounding you at all times. You just need to be present and open to seeing it.
Curate Your Workspace
Whether you love or hate your job, can you find ways to curate your space to make being there more enjoyable?
Obviously, this is easier if you work from home and have control over your environment, but think about micro things that affect your mood and whether you can reasonably adjust to make your workday feel better.
Think:
lighting
Do you have access to a window? Prioritize opening the blinds and looking out at nature more throughout your day.
clothing
Do you have to sit in skin-tight, unbreathable jeans or a digging into your skin wire bra all day? Are loose-fitting, breathable clothing possible without breaking whatever dress code your job has?
scent
Can you open doors and windows to get fresh air? Can you remove toxic air fresheners or plug-ins your place of work has?
movement
Do you have to stay seated in a plastic chair all day long? Can you get a walking desk? Can you stand up and move around more throughout the day?
These are some things to think about wherever you work. If you have a strict work environment that you feel uncomfortable in, are there any opportunities to take what you do virtually and get a remote job?
Most of us shut this down without even looking into it, but you’d be surprised. Even jobs you wouldn’t think about like being a teacher, a school secretary, and a financial advisor are all available completely remote for the same, if not higher salary.
Working in a space where you are completely comfortable and your nervous system is at ease is an absolute necessity for thriving health, so don’t overlook this area.
Work in Flow — No Home Office Required
If you work from home, you do not need a whole office in your house with a fancy desk and 3-monitor setup.
Having a dedicated workspace can help some people focus, but having the freedom to ask yourself what feels best on any given day is the beauty of working from home.
To do my best work, I need to switch it up often and listen to my cues.
Sometimes I sit upright at my desk, sometimes I bounce on an exercise ball. Sometimes I lay outside on the grass, sometimes I sit on my porch in a rocking chair. Sometimes I go to the lake and lay out on a blanket, sometimes I even sit on the couch and lounge while I work.
Being cozy is more important for focus and productivity than anything else. You’re not better at your job just because you have a professional office space.
So ditch the idea that it’s lazy or unprofessional to work wherever you want to work.
Being free to flow, move, and create anywhere you want is a luxury that is not talked about enough.
I think that in itself is an incredibly valid reason for wanting to work from home.
Since having the space to lounge, work, and flow through my day, I remain highly productive, I create better quality work, and my health drastically improved in every way.
Lifelong Success
Success = enjoying what you create. It’s not about “looking” professional or achieving more and more for outside praise.
Creating and being proud of your creation is all you are here to do.
If you can find ways to work with that as your intention, the weight of the world lifts off your shoulders.
Whether you enjoy the thing that makes you money or not, feeling like yourself in every situation and seeing your purpose for being there surrounded by all the beauty and opportunities you are, makes it all feel meaningful.
For more tips on how to enjoy life fully and in thriving health, download my free ebook, 6 Pillars of Holistic Well-Being.
🤍 Jaclyn
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