Coming off a long holiday weekend can be difficult sometimes. We work for money of course, but if we are lucky, our job brings some enjoyment. I enjoy what I do, but after many years of doing it, sometimes I wish for a big lottery win. Now, I will have to play lottery to win, but I do have a dream that one day I will have more economic freedoms. The question I want to ask you today is, …
What do you truly need from your job to make the days easier?
About a year ago, my job implemented a wellness initiative. We have been divided into groups that meet once a month. Each group is guided by different companies who coach us on different topics and create dialogue. These topics include habits, bias, laws of attraction, etc. This program has been okay. For the job I have working with children and their families, this can be a good starting point, but I think there’s more that we need. They include…
- Recognition: As adults, we all have experienced so much good and bad. But all of it makes us better able to handle life’s challenges compared to children. Children often need praise to let them know what they do is right and discipline when they do something wrong. It seems that once we start a job and join the assembly line of workers to create results, this concept gets lost. Imagine how much better you will feel at work if your contributions are recognized more often. This type of responsibility comes from the top and I think this can make work easier. At my job, our boss once told us, “I don’t care about you all, I only care about the kids.” (Crickets) Now, I think we all know that without the staff, what can the kids do? What progress would they make without our hard work?
- Fun: If I can’t laugh at least once a day at my job, I would not be happy. Now, I laugh with those of us at the same level below the bosses, but what energy do you get from the top. When those at the top only rule with an iron fist, they create an authoritative environment. Yes, they must maintain control and make sure the work gets done. But they should also be approachable and not have a stick up their butt.
- Community: For myself, working with kids means also working with families. But recently many of our families care less about what we are working on with their children. More and more of them have given up on their children with disabilities and this affects my love for my job. It can be frustrating when you tell a kid, “No” when they misbehave, and they have a 20-minute meltdown. I have been doing my work for 10 years now and this past year is the first time I have felt this way. I feel like more a babysitter than a collaborator. I would love for the community between us and the families to return.
So, I hope you thought about what you need from your job. We may not be able to get everything to happen, but we can manifest it. We can be a part of the change by speaking to the right people to help make that change. Even initiating it yourself can work. Or we can start seeking out opportunities elsewhere that can give us what we need. If you are anything like me you have many working years left and we should do our best to make sure we are happy as a means to our wellness.