Trapped in a rut? Anesh Jagtiani writes on how to overcome this barrier.

Are you beginning to realise that life isn’t much fun if you’re not enjoying what you are doing 40 to 50 hours a week?

If so, you might have heard that the heart attack rate is 30 per cent higher on Monday mornings (Sunday mornings if you’re in the Middle East). And that working for someone you don’t like can increase your risk of obesity by nearly 50 per cent?

Considering this, how important would it be for you to start learning to enjoy your job more? Pretty important I assume, so here are eight things you can start doing today that will help.

Stay on the market

Keep your resume updated, and always be on the market for a better opportunity. You might be wondering why we are offering this as advice to help you enjoy your job better.

Doing this has a two-fold benefit: First, it will keep you from feeling trapped in your current job because you’ll know that you always have options available elsewhere.

Second, the act of searching for work often helps you to appreciate the work that you already have more than if you weren’t looking.

Own your mornings

Your day is likely to get a lot better if you spend 10 to 15 minutes in the morning doing something that is important to you.  For example, if you have plans to get in better shape and you take care of it first thing in the morning, you’ll have confidence that you’ve already “paid yourself” that day.

You’ll feel less like your life is on hold for the sake of your job.

For best results, commit to this for 15 minutes every single morning and don’t falter.

Enroll in ‘four wheels university’

The material which you listen to in the car on the way to work and on the way home has a profound influence on your attitude both at work and at home.

You’ll also be a lot more confident about yourself if you use the time in your car to educate yourself about something that is important to you.

Get some motivational or inspirational CDs which you can listen to (or perhaps even some recordings of your favorite comedians) and start committing your commute to work time to your own personal growth.

Stay out of negative conversations

This will probably make the biggest difference in whether or not you enjoy or hate your job. Stop engaging yourself in conversations with people who do nothing but complain about what’s going on at work.

People who complain are all over the place and you’re going to run into them at any job, no matter how great their job within the company. These people will poison you with all kinds of negativity and cause you to see only the bad side of your job.

As a general rule of thumb, make it a habit to walk away from any conversation which is not productive and edifying.

Get an emergency fund

Start putting away money into your savings account or a money market fund, and keep doing this until you have anywhere from 3 to 6 months of expenses put away.

Stress at work is inevitable, but it is a lot less threatening when you know that you could walk away from your job and still have 3 to 6 months to find a better one.

Opportunities to prove yourself

Start looking for more opportunities and work to improve your worth with both your co-workers and your superiors.

Sometimes all you have to do is ask, and you might be surprised at what kinds of opportunities arise from it. This will also help your employer to see you as a more viable asset to the company.

Build positive relationships

In addition to avoiding the negative people at your workplace, find a few people who are doing something with their life and actually care about doing a great job. Take these people out to lunch and associate yourself with them, and eventually their positive attitude will rub off on you.

Give your best and start now

Even if you don’t like your job and plan on doing something different in the future, start giving your best to it right now. No matter how much you dislike your job, you have to remember that the habits you’re building are the same habits you’ll take into your next job.

So give yourself the best opportunity to be successful in everything that you do by giving your best, starting right now.

In fact, you might even want to use this 10 to 15 minutes in the morning to put together your resume.

Anesh Jagtiani is the CEO of Empowering Leaders Group (M. E). He is a professional speaker and trainer. His leadership program helps managers motivate and retain their top people, improve their effectiveness in communication and maximise the bottom line of companies. He is also a TV anchor of a show called TOP GUNS on ZEE TV where he has interviewed the 12 most successful Indian entrepreneurs of UAE. He can be reached at anesh@elgme.com or www.elgme.com.

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