Your Job Sucks? Really? I’m Shocked.
Oh, Wait: No I’m Not.

Of course your job sucks. It’s a job.

It’s not recess, it’s not a class you can blow off and still do well in by cheating on the final; it’s a j-o-b job.

Many of the people who tell me their jobs suck never give their job a chance. They:

• Complain about their lack of authority.
• Complain about their d-bag boss.
• Complain about their pain-in-the-ass clients.
• Complain about their moronic coworkers.

See a trend? About complaining? Yes?

Good.

Now here’s a free tip on how to make your job suck less:

Shut your face.

Along with some additional free advice:

• Accept your lack of authority as a fact of life. If you want to succeed, figure out a way to work through influence. Otherwise, let’s just call it what it is: you want enough power to bully around your coworkers because you mistakenly believe that’s the only way you can ever be significant.
• Work around your d-bag boss. You know, I’m not convinced that you have a d-bag boss. I know they’re out there, but far more common in my world are employees who bring out the worst in good bosses by keeping secrets, negotiating job offers in bad faith, and sitting on important information when all they have to do is tell the truth.
• Understand that your pain-in-the-ass clients pay your lucky-ass salary, and move on. Growing up, I often thought my parents were pains, but they fed me and gave me a place to sleep (with Empire Strikes Back sheets, no less), so I instead of telling them to shove it, I smiled and said thanks. Worked out for me, too: they sent me to college.
• Face it: you’re every bit as moronic as your moronic coworkers. I’m talking to you, smartypants. Whatever intellectual advantage you have is negated by your stunted social skills, which I know you have because astute individuals don’t agree with blanket statements like, “my coworkers are morons.”

Want a better job? Start changing your perspective. Yes, your job may actually suck, but you can’t possibly know that until you give it a chance, and you can’t possibly give it a chance if you’re so busy complaining about it.

Here are two books I highly recommend for more information on the topic, in order:

1. Green Eggs and Ham. Remember this classic? It’s about a grump who loves to complain so much that poor Sam I Am has to drive him off a freakin’ cliff before he’ll even try green eggs and ham… which he discovers he loves.
2. Super Staying Power. It’s for people who still imagine that someone will one day just hand them the perfect job.

Now really, did you ever think you’d one day turn into the grump from Green Eggs and Ham? Of course not. You always thought you were more like that persistent prankster, Sam I Am, didn’t you?

Oops.

But don’t worry… there’s time to get it back.

 
Jason Seiden is CEO of Ajax Workforce Marketing. Ajax amplifies brands by aligning employees' online messaging.

Tagged as: career, job, perspective, Super Staying Power