“Don’t equate your self-worth with how well you do things in life. You are’t what you do. If you are what you do, then when you don’t … you aren’t.
– Wayne Dyer

This applies to work and business, dating, sports, gardening, anything we identify with, that we think we have a stake in, that matters to us. Keep perspective. Know who you are; it feels good to be selfishly self-less. It’s all made up (from thinking).

And we spend so much of our time at work, it makes no sense to be unhappy there. Most of us probably spend more time work than we do with our family or personal intimate relations (if we have one).

What keeps people from seeking to make their work happy? Fear is one. Or attachment to the perks. Or their pride, or ego. Which is not to say it’s an easy thing to change, if you feel there’s a lot at stake. But is it practical to be doing work in which you aren’t fulfilled? You will pay a high price in health and happiness.

I found because of a negative corporate culture and atmosphere I found myself in (this was 15 years ago), the people that survived in it were defensive, knew how to play politics, and they learned that in being honest they paid a huge price: either get fired,  reprimanded or some other negative. So they learned to be two-faced and hide what they really thought and felt. And they were not happy. But they survived. Until they got a disease form the on-going stress over the years, or quit, or were fired.

I’ve also hear the attitude that “That’s why it’s called work: because you don’t want to do it. You work so you can play later.” Or some variation on that: it’s work because it’s not fun, it’s hard (painting is hard but I am engaged and enjoying it).  This is nonsense.

But of course unless you know how to be happy in Life, it’s going to be impossible to be happy at work. But to stay in an unhappy job when you are happy otherwise, – such as for the pay or your reputation – makes no sense.

Will a vacation solve it? Not if you go back to the same craziness.

Change yourself, then you will see how to change what you need to change in the world.

It’s taken me a long time to learn to have faith (I’m still learning: it’s a lifetime journey!). This means trusting your intuition, knowing everything will work out, that we are part of a bigger mind or intelligence, that the “small self” is not who we are, and is plugged into a bigger system, that we are all part of. Not to be overthinking and over-analyzing.

Enjoy your work.