What do you do when you do not like your job and you can’t just say you quit because let’s face it, you have bills to pay…the rent, school fees, you just received a HELB message asking you to pay up your debt…argh!
Maybe you have a young family which looks up to you for up keep so you know the kind of trouble you will be bringing upon yourself and your household if you ever decided the hell with this gig.
You know the common phrase “If you don’t like your job quit”? Yea right….That only happens in movies where one quits their miserable jobs andvoila… before you know it they have a job they love and they end up living happily ever after.
You might after all be delirious to think that scenario would play out in Kenya especially if you do not have a well laid out plan of how you are going to get your ‘happily ever after job’ and prove critics wrong.
In the meantime you might want to cool your heels and be glad that you have a job to hate or as we like to say ‘Furahia ata una kazi’.
But surely you can’t go on being miserable day in day out…Sitting in a traffic jam along Waiyaki Way or the notorious Mombasa road from Monday to Friday with a dark cloud hanging over your head because of the dread that comes with reporting to work.
I am no doctor but I do know that’s no healthy way to live…so, how does your job move from miserable to tolerable and maybe even to lovable?
Here are 4 ways of how you can make that transformation.
1.Find Out What Makes You Loathe That Job
The point of this is to find balance between the positive and the negative. There’s got to be something that just gets you going nuts…something that keeps you awake at ungodly hours thinking if only you could do away with it you would be a happy Kenyan.
Is your problem the work itself? Or do you feel overwhelmed, because you just have too much of it to do? Maybe you work for a difficult boss?
The point of this is to find balance between the positive and the negative. There’s got to be something that just gets you going nuts…something that keeps you awake at ungodly hours thinking if only you could do away with it you would be a happy Kenyan.
Is your problem the work itself? Or do you feel overwhelmed, because you just have too much of it to do? Maybe you work for a difficult boss?
Well, as much as you would like to do away with your boss, there’s nothing much you can do about it…or maybe there is… (I am mostly kidding) Or perhaps you don’t like your commute or the working environment? It’s important to identify the source of your frustration, so you can work on a plan to change this.
While you are making that list of negatives, there’s got to be something you love about that job and don’t say nothing….Try to find something positive, even if it’s just the neighborhood you work in or the view from your window…for your sake I am hoping there’s something good.
2. Be thankful you are employed.
Yes you read that right…you might snort if you want but you will be surprised by the number of people who would jump at the chance of having your job even with reduced benefits they will take it just to leave the jobless corner. You might not like your job, but being unemployed would likely be worse especially in this Kenyan economy.
So yeah, gratitude could work miracles in fighting those frustrations.
Yes you read that right…you might snort if you want but you will be surprised by the number of people who would jump at the chance of having your job even with reduced benefits they will take it just to leave the jobless corner. You might not like your job, but being unemployed would likely be worse especially in this Kenyan economy.
So yeah, gratitude could work miracles in fighting those frustrations.
3. Find someone to talk to.
I am not talking about finding someone who will listen to you complain like your buddies who are probably going through the same ordeal. While it might be therapeutic, this won’t help you or them. It will only make both of you miserable. Instead, you need an empathetic, non-judgmental friend—a mentor, perhaps—who will hear you out and help you objectify the problem so you can address it constructively.
I am not talking about finding someone who will listen to you complain like your buddies who are probably going through the same ordeal. While it might be therapeutic, this won’t help you or them. It will only make both of you miserable. Instead, you need an empathetic, non-judgmental friend—a mentor, perhaps—who will hear you out and help you objectify the problem so you can address it constructively.
4. Suck it Up.
Who said it was going to be easy? The truth is that work is hard. (That’s why they call it “work.”) Even at it’s best, there are going to be difficult days. When you are going to face frustrations, setbacks, and even failure…. Don’t be surprised; accept the bad with the good.
While the idea of quitting beckons at you each day as you listen to Maina and Kingang’i in the morning on your way to your dull job and wishing you had their cool job…don’t quit unless you have a second plan of how you are going to make ends meet if you decide to say enough is enough.
Who said it was going to be easy? The truth is that work is hard. (That’s why they call it “work.”) Even at it’s best, there are going to be difficult days. When you are going to face frustrations, setbacks, and even failure…. Don’t be surprised; accept the bad with the good.
While the idea of quitting beckons at you each day as you listen to Maina and Kingang’i in the morning on your way to your dull job and wishing you had their cool job…don’t quit unless you have a second plan of how you are going to make ends meet if you decide to say enough is enough.
Credit: Career point Kenya
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