"The chains of habit are too weak to be felt, until they're too strong to be broken" S. Johnson 1748
Do you work out of absolute necessity or is there some joy and satisfaction in what you do?
Ever wonder about the tasks you perform? Question the impact and value of your labour? Ponder the freedom you actually have to do your job properly? And maybe you just have excessive responsibility and believe yourself to be overworked? Plenty of people contemplate one or more of the above on a regular basis. And let's face it, there are plenty of other questions you can ask yourself about your own job.
Even asking just any one of these questions suggests that you are or might be bound by the invisible chains that tightly bind you. And don't be fooled, they do tightly bind you.
These thoughts and questions occur to people throughout the entire worker spectrum, from janitor across to CEO. No one is immune. It's not a function of pay or rank, it is about the perception of why the work being done is being done, where it is being and how it is being done. It can be an individual thing, or it can be endemic in the workplace.
Rarely openly discussed and risky to reveal. Perceiving there to be chains in the workplace can be damaging downward spiral. Ringing any bells?
So, change your job!
And many people do change their jobs but it's not always that easy. And many end up swapping one set of chains for another set of different but equally binding chains. So, a job change, but one with no real gains.
What are these chains that bind us?
Let's start with pay and time available. You might be paid well and therefore be reluctant to leave. You could be paid just enough to keep you attached to the employer and worry about being able to get more elsewhere. Time? Getting another job takes time that you might have trouble finding. Sneaking out for interviews and inventing medical appointments is sadly usually quite transparent. And being a parent, for example, or carer and having a job already means that you have two demanding roles already, so you're time poor.
You could also be locked in a skills trap. You're well qualified and experienced in doing the job you have but the skills are not easily transferable. What then? Resign and retrain? Time and money come back to bite us again here. And you have to consider that the spectre of AI is nipping at our heels too.
If you add the above to a not-so-great-boss, a negative workplace culture, a lack of empowerment, low motivation and the other negatives that we frequently carry around, the only conclusion we can realistically draw is that we need to bite on the bullet and change jobs.
Whoa! Wait! Let's just back up here.
Moving jobs is like moving house. There's plenty of cost attached, including leaving behind a high value social network and cashing in a useful portfolio of professional expertise, and experience, that you have to rebuild from ground zero in the new job. There's the nerve shredding questions such as have I done the right thing? What will the people be really like? Was that welcoming, glad handing and gesturing during the interview process just window dressing? Oh yeah, and there's no going back!
Maybe it might be a good idea to try and remodel the house you've got?
Do something more imaginative with it so you enjoy living in it that little bit more. A bit of redecorating so to speak. A series of small incremental changes that give you a little sense of victory every time you look at the difference it has made. Updating colour schemes and shifting furniture around move you away from the treadmill and more into greener fields hallmarked by your self-empowerment. Open the windows more and let in the fresh air. You feel a bit more in control and you haven't broken the bank or upset the applecart.
If any of the above resonates with you, then you need to take a bit of a look at your job and how you perceive it. You also need to make an intentional decision to do something about it.
Your goal, in a nutshell, will be to break the chains that are binding you. Metaphorically speaking you need – and you do need – to remodel yourself. OK, that's all very well and the metaphor is a good one. We don't want to take too much risk but we do need a change.
But how to start?
To help you find your self-solutions download the NoWorriesApp, it's completely free. Use it to reflect and capture – completely anonymously and securely – the challenges and issues you have at work and focus in on where you need to grow. So find a quiet place and take a few moments to think about things. Quantify yourself and begin to notice where the opportunities lie for your own personal marginal gains.
As you progress through the NoWorriesApp you can explore where your concerns lie. This is self-help and no one is giving advice, you need to find your own self-solutions for real change – to break your own chains. To decide for yourself what you intend to do. You are simply unpacking your challenges and allowing yourself to create small changes that help remodel your metaphorical house. None of the entries you make are shared and you cannot be identified as a user of the NoWorriesApp.
Routine use of the app can empower your decision making and self-change journey, building greater resilience. Building a stronger house and more engaged with your surroundings.
D'you what?
Yes I think that sofa would look better over there…
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