Chapter 48 Job-Loving and Job-Survival.
A job is an entire career at its present state, where we work for incomes, achievements, and the resultant good life. The quality of our lives depends on the values of our little daily accomplishments. Here is where we often take the most important things in life for granted. How can we treat our career, a precious livelihood, so lightly? Its gravity is beyond any doubt and needs little emphasis.
The importance of jobloving needs little emphasis too. Charles dEmerson said, „It is impossible to do anything well without pleasure. When we love what we are doing, we do well, and end up with joy and satisfaction. Experts found that less stress and fatigue were suffered when work was enjoyed, and people could go a long way before exhaustion sets in. K. Gibran wrote: „Work is love made visible. The great entrepreneur, Mr Charles Schwab put it aptly: „The man who does not work for the love of work, but only for money is neither likely to make money nor to find much fun in life. Another great success celebrity Oprah said, „I am where I am not because money was ever... my motivation.
How do you love your job then? You simply have to set goals, stir up a burning desire, and motivate yourself. Find the functions that you enjoy doing, and persuade the company to let you shine in them. A job can be considered a game to be played skilfully under existing rules. Enjoy work as play; yet you must separate work from play in a special way, for greater focus and performance. Mind you, your efforts and even your free time will be fruitless and disappointing, unless you take charge of yourself. On the contrary, if you relish your undertakings and your leisure, we will find life more meaningful and fulfilling. A line in the Desideratareads: „Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
To love your job, love your colleagues; the human spirit embraces the work place. Many people overlook the importance of co-workers, forgetting that joy and fun can exude from them, as well as infectious enthusiasm, delight, energy and humour. Love and care for your colleagues. Overlook their weaknesses, and instead, look for their qualities and capitalise on them.
Another secret of job success is to get off to a fast start and consolidate your career quickly. Create a winning mystique early in the game. As I said in Chapter 44, there were people, who in 5 years achieved more than what others did in 15 years. Energise yourself, learn quickly, and outperform your peers. Learn from the beaver and the mosquito. The beaver builds dams and tunnels happily throughout the night; the mosquito bites hard and then sings! Be creative, pioneer better methods, and increase your visibility. For long-term advancement, go sideways if necessary; learn about other departments too and become valuable to your company. Remember Lazy Jim, in Chapter 30?
Among job survival techniques, attitude comes first and is reflected in your performance. This is where your moral sense, values, goals, and motivation take off. Integrity is vital, it includes honesty, reliability, responsibility and loyalty, which enhance your character and boost your long-term commercial worth.
Secondly, Have you got drive? Can you do more than required and do better than others? Be dedicated, or rather, dead-icated! E. Hubbard said, „People who never do any more than they're paid to do are never paid for any more than they do.
Thirdly, the ability to get along well with others is also essential in keeping a job. Do maintain the best office etiquette and protocol, and never make anyone feel slighted. Remain cool, calm, and courteous at all times, even under trying conditions. Co-operate with others and be a team-player. Help your co-workers as much as you can; in this way, you empower them and they will strengthen you in return. Cultivate, recognise, and care for those below you. Be the respectful, considerate and likeable person, who is sensitive to the feelings and needs of others. Avoid gossips and politicking. Stick to facts; reason and discuss things intelligently and solve problems objectively.
Fourthly, promote your company's products and services, and uphold its good corporate image. Lastly, be flexible and adaptable. Apart from these important points, other rules for survival are obvious; use your intelligence and common sense.
Getting along with your boss is the most important ingredient in keeping and advancing your job. Here are 6 vital points:
1. Listen attentively to your superior, not just to what he says but also to what he
implies; take notes if necessary. Follow his objectives and his instructions, and if
anything is questionable, bring it up courteously.
2. Accentuate his qualities, strength, performance and image. Make him look good,
even if you have to let him take the credit for something you have done or conceived.
Cover his mistakes. Help him to succeed in both obvious and subtle ways. Give him
advance information (especially for company meetings), instead of outshining him!
When he progresses, you progress too.
3. Ease and uncomplicate your bosss life. Solve your own problems. Be a bearer of
good news, and be concise. Put accent on the positive: ‘setbacks and „obstacles are
only challenges.’
4. Be a crucial and indispensable subordinate. Always go the extra mile, and volunteer
for dirty or delicate assignments. Get your name on projects.
5. Be loyal, be trustworthy and a confidante. Share accomplishments, ideas,
opportunities, options and alternatives with him. Introduce him to important people.
6. Maintain excellent relationship with his secretary and family.
This lesson will be incomplete without an awareness for contingencies, after all, life is not a bed of roses. The first question that comes to mind is: What if you cannot love your job? I think this is a problem of values and attitude. One universal weakness is that at work, people hanker for amusement and leisure. They fail to realise that everyone must work to earn his holidays, and that all pleasures have their saturation points. Their fun will begin to wear off on the 3rd week of a vacation, and they will miss home and work. Life needs a good balance and mixture of everything. Besides, too much relaxation will lower your self-esteem because you do not feel organised and useful. Marden wrote: „No matter how humble your work may seem, do it in the spirit of an artist, of a master. In this way you lift it out of commonness and rob it of what would otherwise be drudgery.
You need to have dreams, and set goals for your present job; then you can form strategies and manoeuvre yourself in a powerful way. Think of steppingstones and all possibilities, including vertical and horizontal channels for progress, and even success outside of work! It is said that you cannot succeed in a difficult task, unless you take pleasure in doing it. So instead of sitting around and moaning, enjoy your work or do something. Act, create, and make things happen. Change your attitude to work and people and things will change towards you.
A bigger hurdle is the economic and career downswing that you may meet somewhere along your life-long career. My advice to you is: Any setback, bounce back! You can do this, by adapting to hardship and changes in technology and economics. Remember, problems create opportunities. Gather all the ingenuity, skills, and courage at your disposal and proceed. With unfaltering selfimage, perseverance, optimism, humour and so on, you can weather the storm and emerge victorious again. I will discuss setbacks in greater details later. In the meantime, before any downturn, move to solidify your career base. Start wielding knowledge and skills to take you to greater heights in the corporate ladder, and I will teach you these techniques soon.
My concluding remark is: There is no future in a job, the future lies you; everything depends on you! How can you allow your loved ones, your home, your abilities and skills to lose their charm and dwindle away? Life is precious, hold on tightly to your career. Go to work tomorrow and act as if it was your first day on a new job, it will be the first day of the rest of your life too!
"If you have a job without aggravations, you don't have a job." - Forbes.
"If you work for a man, in heaven's name work for him! If he pays you wages that supply your bread and butter, work for him, stand by him, and stand by the institution he represents." - E. Hubbard.
"The fruit derived from labour is the sweetest of all pleasures." - Vauvenargues.
"A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best." - Emerson.
"Every person gets his pleasure from the instrument he plays best." - Henri-Rene Lenormand.