When Work Sucks and 3 Tips to Fix it

There are times, work just sucks.

There’s no other way to put it. You don’t feel fulfilled. You’re irritable and nothing is going right. The suckiness starts to spill over into your life and you want to hide under the covers eating Midnight Madness ice cream.

I’ve been there and gotten out. I can help.

Or at least try.

Here are some tips that help me get out of the funk.

Be Someone Else

This is going to feel counterintuitive, but you have to shut off your own brain and be someone else. More specifically, one of your heroes.

Welcome to pretend land.

I take this to heart all the time and have a list of characters I pretend to be.

• Eric Thomas

• Tony Robbins

• GaryVee

• Gojo Satoru (If you know you know)

• Stereotypical Rockstar from the 80s-90s

This entity doesn’t have to be real. The only condition is that it has to be something that you connect to on a deep level. You have to step out of your reality and create a totally crazy lens.

You may be asking why. Here’s the thing. The paradigm that you’re living in as yourself kind of sucks. If it didn’t suck, you probably wouldn’t be looking for answers on a blog post. I’m sure you just want to be happy again, right?

Once you start pretending to be this person, your whole world changes. You become more creative, energetic, happy, and engaged. Most importantly, you begin to be brave enough to live the truth you’ve always wanted.

You are drawn to the heroes that demonstrate what you want to be. To become that, start emulating them and see what happens.

Write Down What is Going On

There is a lot of power when pen meets paper. Take the time to write down what is going on and read it out loud to yourself.

There is a caveat. Only write down what is happening. Not your feelings. Not your thoughts. Write down what is actually happening.

Take the time to review from a bird's eye perspective and take the emotion out of it. It can be amazingly easy to get caught up in the emotions of the moment. This is what the ‘motivators’ call stories.

Stories can have a lot of headlines, but if your job sucks, you’re probably viewing yourself as the victim. The one who needs to be rescued from a situation or person.

Let me tell you about a time I was the victim.

I was working an entry-level position at a fairly large company. They were taking off and there were positions opening all around the organization. I interned for a few departments and decided that I wanted to work in marketing. A lucrative position opened up and I applied.

Shot over my resume and did the whole shebang.

I helped the Marketing Director and she expressed interest in hiring me. Here’s the thing, my current director hated me. Absolutely hated me and he wasn’t shy about telling managers that he just didn’t like me. We didn’t agree on most things, but I thought he was nice enough as a person.

Months went by and I never heard about that position, but my manager and team lead told me I was not to speak to anyone in marketing. Especially not the director. I didn’t know what was going on, but I needed the job to pay the bills and kept my head down.

I eventually ran into the marketing director and she told me that she asked the director who hated me to transfer me over to her department. According to her, he kept blowing her off and wouldn’t let her talk to me. She needed someone to fill the position, so they found an external candidate.

I was pretty upset and started that victim story. That everyone in my current department was trying to sabotage my career at the company.

Let’s look at the facts:

1. I applied to a job and didn’t get it

2. Conversations were happening around me and I wasn’t allowed to speak to people about the position

3. None of these conversations were confirmed to be true

4. I wasn’t persistent and didn’t press the matter

5. I decided to stay at the organization

What does this evidence say to you? Here’s what it says to me:

1. If I really wanted that position, I would have fought harder to get it

2. Management wasn’t consistent in messaging and that seems like a red flag

3. I willing stayed knowing the situation was shady and I wasn’t happy

Funny enough, I stayed there for another 3 years after that.

After that particular instance, I became a toxic complainer at work. Complained about everything. Everyone hated it, but I thought I was truly exposing them. It was a huge waste of time. I feel a fountain of embarrassment writing it down right now.

I played the victim. The only way I was able to get out of it was to write down what was going on and take ownership for MY actions.

Don’t get sucked in by the victim story.

Create a Strong Morning Routine

This one has been crucial over the past 3 years for me.

When you start your day the same way everyday, you are priming yourself for success. Take the time to be your true self and make space.

I like to wake up at 4am to get to the gym, meditate, and read. You don’t have to go that crazy about it. I will say there are a lot of benefits to having that extra space. People aren’t hitting you up. The freeways are clear and nobody is around to annoy you.

Here are some morning routines I’ve heard:

• “I wake up, ride my peloton bike for 30 minutes, read the news, and have a bagel”

• “I wake up at 6am, get my coffee, and spend an hour writing”

• “I wake up, drink some tea, journal, and go on a walk”

Think about the power in that. You have the space to be and do whatever you want. Once you create the routine of your dreams, you’ll build the momentum to tackle the world.

Here’s the Thing

You are not trapped. Take the time to do something different and you may end up liking it. Always experiment to find your true self. If you don’t start changing your situation, nobody else will. It’s in your hands.