How far are you willing to go in

Is career fulfillment way overdue for you? If so, it’s likely that career frustration invades your every waking moment; sitting and waiting for change to arrive on your doorstep makes the pain worse. How far are you willing to go, to be an active player in helping career frustration dissipate?

Does career frustration only stem from inefficiency in your organization?

We think the answer is ‘no’, and suggest that before you work on ‘all things career’, there’s an opportunity to work on ‘all things you’. By working on ‘all things you’, the source of power for change shifts from somebody else to you, in which case, you are in the driver’s seat and you call the shots. That allows you to take action to reposition, redesign or recreate your career. However, before action, there’s a need for a healthy disposition, mindset and state of ‘being’. Action will only gain desired results when executed with a healthy and hopeful mind, body and spirit.

Dreams give hope

My friend Barbara has lost any hope for a career that keeps her engaged and productive. Yesterday, her tears of hopelessness were so painful that they pulled at the depths of my gut. On one hand, I’m extremely happy that she is releasing her frustration about her job reality, yet on the other it’s worrying to me as she can only see doom and gloom.

Her mind is cluttered with ‘why is this happening to me’, fueling a blame attitude to grow bigger by the day. Her spirit is broken and feels heavier in every exchange. How can she possibly claw her way out of career frustration when in such a state of despair?

The magic of dreams is that they transport you to another space, a positive fantasy that you can see, feel and embed yourself into. This invites positivity back, and does not have to only exist in our sleep. Challenge yourself to some doodling and sketching (ranging from stick figures up to elaborate masterpieces; anything goes when hope is lacking); this will provide pictures and stories to connect with and place yourself in, occupying your mind with how things can look and feel, and a story of the future. Is it a new boss you see in the picture, more collaboration, good use of time, exciting projects, time with family – after all, it is your story and not for anyone else. This is a lot healthier than shame, a lot more constructive than blame and a lot braver than covering your frustration with ‘busy-ness’, ensuring you simply don’t have time to deal with your disappointment and hopelessness.

Has your state of being become just a tiny bit healthier, with a glimmer of hope peaking through?

Part of the dreaming process will also allow you to ‘bend’ time. Imagine yourself with that nasty boss, the toxic team, your boring tasks, current limited growth, reduced salary, high job pressure etc. Ask yourself: will I still be in this horrible situation thirty years from now. Not likely! So, bring that length of time back towards yourself and ask: twenty or ten years? Again, not likely. So now move into months. Is there light at the end of a shorter tunnel now? This will bring perspective and add a new dimension to the sketch and story from before. In your imagination, this process will allow you to have influence over time, something previously considered to be impossible.

Has your state of being become just a tiny bit healthier, with a glimmer of hope peaking through?

If all else fails, surround yourself with something or someone positive you haven’t had in your environment for the past 48 hours. The conversation, the focus, the sound, the activity – whatever it is, change your everyday up. Drowning in isolation and frustration will simply shut your system down. Take a temperature check of how you feel with just a few hours surrounded with new-ness.

I recently watched a video from a hidden camera in a nature reserve. The camera was placed next to a fallen log which lay over a bubbling stream. The recording showed a year’s worth of wildlife making use of the log to cross the stream. What’s this got to do with your career? If the video was no longer secretly recording wildlife but rather your ability to create hope in times of career frustration, what would it identify? Would it reveal you to be someone who constantly invests in strengthening your mind, body and spirit in the face of job adversity, ensuring that when you do take action to reposition, recreate or redesign your career, it will be done in a way that will have only positive influence and ultimately achieve the result you desire?

The need for hope cannot be overstated when career fulfillment is non-existent. Converting job frustration to career fulfillment will depend on a consistent and clear focus in a productive manner with conviction and a strong sense of significance. How are you ensuring that your state of being has the capacity and courage to achieve this?

Debbie Nicol, managing director of ‘business en motion’, builds org systems, frameworks and cultures through the services of training, coaching and solutions, helping move businesses and leaders ahead through change. ‘learning en motion’, a niche brand of ‘business en motion’ is a contemporary response for those leaders who feel frustrated in the workplace, enabling them to be part of the solution.