I’m so sorry you hate your job! It’s a terrible place to be. I’ve been there…and thankfully, love what I do now. Actually, I have had many jobs that I loved, which is why I do what I do now – I believe everyone can do what they love – or at least more and more of it, over time.
I used to hate my job, or at least parts of it. It’s normal. After all, nothing is perfect – not even your “right fit” job.
You know that saying “when the student is ready, the teacher appears”? I always thought my teacher would be the gentle guru – instead it turned out my teachers were bad relationships, and jobs I hated.
I learned something from the jobs I hated. I learned to focus my attention on the parts of the job I liked.
There was always a little something that was rewarding. When I focused on that, it made the rest easier to take. And it prepared me somehow – mentally, emotionally, spiritually, whatever – to move into a new job that was doing mostly what I liked. It was as though I was getting ready to do what I liked by shifting my focus from what I didn’t like.
I don’t know if you’ve heard this saying “where attention goes, energy flows” – I have found it to be true in every situation. When I focus on what’s wrong, I get more of the stuff I hate. When I focus on what’s right, I get more of the stuff I love.
Sure, the painful/hard/uncomfortable/awful stuff is still there, but I’m not feeding it. I’m feeding the good/positive/fun/rewarding stuff. So I feel better.
I remember during my two-year job search how miserable I was. I hated about half of my job and couldn’t seem to find the next right fit job. I spent a lot of time crying and complaining and being depressed. Then one day, I yelled at a friend of mine who was just trying to help with some suggestions “I’ve tried all of that! Don’t you understand? Nothing is working!!” and burst into tears.
Somehow, that was a turning point. Because I realized that I had no other option. I had to get another job. And I had to go to work every day. So I could either be miserable and despairing, or I could accept that I was where I was, that there were good aspects of the job, and that I just needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other, doing the next right thing.
I’m not saying it was easy to put that into effect. I needed to exert constant vigilance and consciously choose to focus on what I liked, and consciously choose to believe I would find the next right job for me. It was only a matter of time. Gradually, I felt better.
About six months after that outburst, I did land the next right fit job for me – a job at which I remained for 11 years.
So I know in my bones that you will get a great job. Keep taking one step at a time, having faith in a great outcome, and choosing to focus on the stuff you like.
