Stop the Job Suckage: Day Two

* This ten-day series is designed to help you kickstart a new way of approaching your job or career. Over ten days, we’ll explore how to look objectively at the job/career situation you’re in, and clarify where to go next. For some, that might mean not leaving a job but drastically improving it in some meaningful way. For others, this series will provide some help with clarifying your next career move or pave the way to a transition. You’re strongly encouraged to complete all ten steps, in order, to see what answers you arrive at.

Congrats, you’ve arrived at Day Two. If you haven’t already read and completed the exercise from Day One, head over there first and see what’s the what before reading further–yesterday’s practice builds on today’s practice.  Click the link on the left under Categories that says “job suckage.”

Okay–Day Two–so I’m sure many of you may have noticed that there is this thing we do in our modern day society where we get sucked into media advertising and think that if we had SomeThing or SomeThings, we’d be happy. Even though we “get” that it’s all a lie, a funny thing happens on the way to the Circus–we buy yet another book or pair of pretty shoes.

Media research has shown again and again that when we buy Things, we envision that the having of the Thing will confer upon us certain qualities that we associate with the Thing. Clothing is an easy example–branding is so obvious. What’s the branding of a store like The Gap compared to a store like Bebe? If you buy something from The Gap, you’re probably imagining that you’ll take on certain qualities such as looking streamlined and being comfortable. The clothing, of course, does not actually DO this–it’s just an idea we have. And if you get something from Bebe? You’re probably imagining how hot you’ll look. Yet again–it’s just an idea. The clothing does not automatically make you hot.

So we have tendencies to buy Things that are either ideas or image boosters. The book (ideas) and the pair of pretty shoes (image boosters) can be an excellent accompaniment to the ride, but they won’t get you as far as tapping into the qualities and going after the qualities rather than the stuff that we think will get us those qualities.

For example–I’ll just out myself here–I have been known to go through a particularly difficult stretch  in my life and then go out and get a new book, thinking that that’s what will help. That book might promise to organize my life in five easy steps, or teach me positive communication tools, or get me on a new enlightened path to meditation. I buy the book, then read part of the book, then my funk passes so maybe I don’t even finish the book.

It was never about the book.

I bought that book because of the qualities I decided it represented; I hoped that (perhaps by osmosis) I would have those qualities because I bought the book.

But–it was never about the book.

So yesterday you wrote about your ideal day, and part of that exercise was to write about how you felt throughout that day. That’s important, because for this next step I’d like you to review what you wrote and pick out ten qualities/feelings that stick out to you. Prioritize them if you feel so inclined, or organize them neatly in a binder (just don’t go out and buy a book on getting organized to complete this piece of the exercise…)

What does that have to do with stopping the job suckage?

Wait for it…wait for it… I have an idea that if you believe your job sucks, you’ve worked out all of the angles for why it sucks. We don’t need to spend more time there in the Suckage and arrive at those same answers. Looking at your ideal day and the qualities inherent within is part of turning things around at your current job, while you’re still there, or moving towards a new career path.

Tomorrow, I’ll connect these qualities very directly to the Job Suckage issue!