5 Ways To Feel More Positive About Your Job

TimWalker — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 20:17:42 +0000

Why is it so easy for us to dwell on negative thoughts, and so hard to look on the bright side of life?

Survival Of The Pessimist: Our subconscious minds are primed to increase our odds of survival. In hunter-gatherer times it paid to be paranoid because the stakes were literally life or death. You wouldn’t have wanted to stroll jauntily into a dark cave armed with only happy thoughts for fear of becoming a free lunch for whatever might be lurking within.

The Negativity Bias: Whatever the reason, it’s an unfortunate fact of human nature that most of us have a natural tendency to focus on life’s irritations, no matter how small. Known as the negativity bias, it’s especially apparent in our work (including travel to and from), which for most of us takes up a sizeable chunk, if not the majority, of our waking lives.

Long-term Stressors: Unless you are one of the lucky few who get paid to do a job they love, there are probably aspects of your job that push your buttons. Things like a stressful commute, the same old routine, an incompetent boss, political colleagues, endless paperwork: while these may not have bothered you too much at first, in the long term they can be the cause of chronic stress.

So what can you do, besides changing jobs? No doubt you’re better off out of a job if it’s making you miserable, ruining your quality of life, health, relationships etc. But short of that, it’s not always practical, and let’s face it, a change of job brings stress of its own. If you are basically content in your job save for the odd fly in the ointment, then there is another solution.

Disciplined Optimism: Cognitive psychologists have shown that what you choose to focus your attention on significantly affects your mood. But this is easier said than done considering our in-built tendency to be pessimistic. To be optimistic takes focus, effort and discipline. Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are effective ways of enhancing focus and will power, not to mention releasing stress and other negative feelings.

5 practical tips: these will help you get the wheels of positivity in motion:

Don’t Get Flushed When you catch yourself in a vicious thought cycle, spiralling rapidly down the U-bend, get in the habit of saying “STOP!” and immediately thinking of one thing you like about your job, or a recent, positive incident at work – no matter how small. Make it like a knee-jerk response so you’re as well-trained as a Pavlovian dog.
Saving Private Ryan Take a minute to remind yourself of at least one person you work with that you like. Soldiers say that when on the front lines of a war zone, they are fighting on behalf of their unit. For those of us who feel like we’re in the trenches when in the workplace, this kind of camarderie can go a long way.
“Thanks Dad, I mean John.” Be grateful if you have a boss who, like a surrogate parent, is prepared to point you in the right direction – when you need it that is.
Hawaiian Shirt Day? Free coffee, decent holiday parties, a relaxed dress code: any little extras thrown in that help make life a bit more bearable can make all the difference. Count them as blessings.
Show Me The Money Let’s face it, if you’re not doing your dream job then you are in your current one for the money. And if you get paid a decent salary then you’re ahead of the game.

Bonus Tip: Make a mental list of every single good point about your job. Pick the top five, write them on a piece of paper and read it daily.

Next: When your current job really isn’t a good fit: 5 reasons to jump ship.

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