The perfect job is not the key to making you successful. You are the key to making yourself successful, no matter what job you are in. Professionals who learn how to enjoy their work can help themselves become successful. They come into their role with the mindset and perspective to maximize their role and make the opportunity work for them. Here are three tips to help you do this, too, and enjoy work:
1. See Challenges as Learning Opportunities
It is human nature to retreat from challenges. Challenges make you feel uncomfortable. People try to avoid challenges because they are stressful, and people don’t want to add stress to their lives. But some stressful situations are worth embracing because these situations teach you new things. When you grow as a professional, you develop the skills to be as good as you can be.
For example, your boss assigns a project to you that involves a lot of mathematics. Not very comfortable with numbers, you get worried you are going to fail. You want to go to your manager with an excuse to not have to work on the project. Instead, consider collaborating with a teammate or working with a colleague in the finance department. Learn the mathematics while you work with another person, and use this opportunity to further the working relationship between the two of you.
There are ways in which challenging situations can help you. The next time you come across a challenge, don’t take a step back. Move towards the challenge with curiosity and a problem-solving mentality. Challenges help you learn and propel you forward in your career.
2. Appreciate People’s Differences
One of the most challenging aspects of work are the people. Each person is different. People have their personal preferences, their own way of communicating and unique motivators.
Let’s say you prefer to communicate with your coworkers by email, and one of your teammates insists on coming by your desk to speak face-to-face. While you may find this annoying, you have found that face time has helped the two of you establish a rapport and eliminate miscommunication.
Differences can be difficult to manage. But try not to get frustrated. Different ways of doing things may ultimately help you and your career.
3. Become Comfortable With Continuous Work
Some people feel like they can only finally breathe when they have completed everything on their to-do list. But a professional’s work is never done. You will always have a project to complete, a deadline to meet, a meeting to attend, an email to send or a performance evaluation to conduct.
Knowing that the work will not end may be daunting. Successful professionals accept that there will always be something to work on and manage the never-ending list of to-dos by setting goals. Successful professionals identify the tasks they will do for a given day and not worry about the next thing. Worrying about the next thing decreases the energy you have to work on the task at hand, and reducing your capacity can undermine the quality of the work in front of you.
Successful professionals know that it is not what you do with the work, rather it is how you approach the work that makes you successful. See challenges as learning opportunities, appreciate differences and recognize that work will always be there.
This article was written by Avery Blank from Forbes and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
