MONDAYS: The Four Keys to Finding Fulfillment at Work
By Brenda Hansen-Mayer, SDECCA President
Do you look forward to Mondays or is Friday the best day of the week? Is Saturday good, but not great since negative thoughts begin intruding and tension starts to build because Monday is coming? Perhaps depression hits by Sunday because of the dread of work tomorrow?
Robin Shreerer, author of No More Blue Mondays says she has helped people for many years create satisfying and fulfilling careers so Mondays are not a drag. She says there are four keys to finding fulfillment at work:
Key #1. Reveal what's true for you
Key #2. Reclaim your personal power
Key #3. Express your commitment
Key #4. Surround yourself with support
Reveal what's true for you. It takes courage to tell the truth, even to yourself, but doing so has the power to alter your life. Ask yourself the following questions and try to answer them truthfully.
- Are you doing work that you really love? If not, what would that be?
- Are you fully contributing your talents, skills, and abilities, the qualities that make you unique, where you are right now?
- Do you have a personal vision, mission, or purpose in your work that inspires you?
- Are you taking risks, growing, or stretching in some way in your work?
- Do you support your boss? Are you fully on the team? If not, why are you there?
Have you ever admitted to any of the following truths? If so, do you remember how life-changing it was?
- You would never feel whole until you completed your college education
- You had to leave your family business if you were ever to grow up
- You had outgrown your job and needed to move on
- You were an artist and would never be happy unless you were creating things
- You loved to start things but couldn't stand implementing them
- You were so consumed an exhausted by your work that the only way you could decide what was next was to take a sabbatical
- You no longer fit in your company (or industry) after it changed
- You no longer found your work fun or exciting
Revealing the truth lays the foundation for an empowered work situation and a satisfying life, but it is not enough. It has to be accomplished by action and that's key #2, which will be addressed in the next SDECCA news article. Stay tuned.
Source: No More Blue Mondays by Robin Sheerer