There are many reasons why we begin a new job feeling elated, fulfilled, challenged and happy and then end up feeling unhappy at work. The tasks that once challenged us are now mundane and the energy we felt when we started a new job with new hopes and promises has gradually become a treadmill of drudgery.
How to stop being unhappy at work
Once you recognise that you are unhappy at work you can take action, take steps to change your situation and get control back in your work life. Being unhappy at work can sap the energy and positivity out of you and make you feel unfulfilled.
Some of the personal tools that I explore with my career coaching clients who are unhappy at work include:
- Learn how to create a mindset of abundance (e.g., financial, health, business). Get to know yourself. ‘Its not what you get to do when you’re doing what you do, its who you get to be while you’re doing it.’ I love this quote by Laura Berman Fortgang.
- Accept yourself and know that you are enough. An opportunity to look deeply into your heart and know that you are enough.
- Learn how to use Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in your pursuit of meaning. What might change for you if you could manage your thoughts more effectively?
- Understand the power of gratitude and how it relates to your career. The power of gratitude is one of our most underestimated, and therefore under-used resources. I’ll show you simple ways to bring the power of gratitude into your life.
- Rediscover a sense of purpose. Finding your true purpose is a significant key to unlocking happiness at work.
- Define your happiness criteria. Understand more deeply, what makes you truly happy.
- Create resilience using Spiritual Intelligence (SQ). Learn about SQ, and how you might employ it to help you deal better with change.
- Effectively respond to challenges as they present themselves. Recognise what methods you currently employ when dealing with challenges, and consider some new strategies.
- Understand and deepen relationships at work. Building successful relationships is a major factor in building a successful career. Learn how to approach your relationships wholeheartedly, even when you feel this is one-way traffic!
- Work/life balance. What would it mean for you if you could stop swimming against the tide? Let go of the notion of struggle and hard-work and create more ease and flow.
- Celebrate successes! Learn how to celebrate more. I’m not talking about indulgence here. I’m talking about acknowledging the small successes that we often let slip by, relatively un-noticed. These are milestones in your journey towards fulfilment and are worthy of your attention.
Case Studies for clients who changed their life when they were unhappy at work
More and more of my clients who are unhappy at work are recognising the need for a better work / life balance. Read my client case studies to see how others found fulfilment in their career.
The Courage to Change Career – a Client’s Story of Career Coaching
Darren P – Hertfordshire – For those of you out there who know that life needs to change, but need help to work out the direction, Sandra is there to help, and once you make the commitment to be receptive for change, you’ll be amazed how quickly things happen.
For me, it took about 2 months from the time that I decided to commit to making change happen (I quit the job that I hated), to getting a job offer to work in the most amazing business.
Work / Life Balance – how my client found a new lease of life at work
I have a client who embarked on my six session career change process and realised early on that he had fallen into the trap of putting more and more hours into the job as a way to get recognised. Entering the coaching process allowed him to take a step back and review his priorities.
A few months on and he is working for a new company, leading innovative projects, with a flexi-time arrangement. He has set up home with his partner, joined his local cricket team and he’s deciding what volunteer work he’d like to pursue later in the year.
If you are unhappy at work or your work isn’t providing you with a deep sense of fulfilment, I’d love to discuss how I could help
Sandra Swan is a specialist mid-life career coach. To find out how she can help you find meaning at work and a career you’ll love, contact her.