You can hate 20% of your job and still love your job. Over the years I asked managers how much of their job they could hate and still love their job. The number hovers around 20%.
Unrealistic expectations ruin satisfaction.
You don’t have to love your job all the time. Markus Buckingham explains to love your job you need to love the things you do at least 20% of the time. (Love + Work)
We do things we don’t love because we get to do things we love.
You’ll be a failure if expect to do fun stuff all the time.
The formula to love your job:
20-60-20
20% of your job is pure delight. Think about losing track of time. Reflect on things you can’t wait to do and want to do again.
60% of your job can be ho hum.
20% of your job feels like rocks in your pockets. What drains you? Perhaps it’s paperwork or terminating employees.
Tips to love your job:
- Focus on the 20% you love. Negative thinking obscures love.
- Don’t procrastinate on the 20% you hate. Brian Tracy said eat the frog first. (Eat that Frog)
- Have a best friend at work. People with a best friend at work get more done, engage with customers and employees, share ideas, and have fun at work. (Gallup)
- Maintain a “what’s next” attitude. Turning toward the past is an anchor. Turning toward building the future is fuel.
- Develop yourself. Stop worrying about fixing other people! Get better at what you do. Better yet, get better at what you hope to do.
What does it take to love your job?
Here’s more on loving your work: 5 Ways to Love Work
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This post was previously published on LEADERSHIPFREAK.BLOG and is republished with Creative Commons license.
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I’m not really sure what’s considered “realistic expectations” vs “unrealistic expectations.” Is it just that things should adhere to no more than a 20-60-20 formula? (ie, you should hope for more than 20% of what you love?)
I mostly like to be busy. Few things are more demoralizing than having nothing to do. A soul-crushing job would be just showing up somewhere to be at that place.