*Don't hate your job*
Let's play a game of pretend. My name is John and I hate my job. I wake up at 6am and I dread going to work. I eat my breakfast, take my shower, and brush my teeth while simultaneously wishing that I could catch strep throat so I would have a valid reason to stay home. I get in my car and spend an hour in rush hour traffic wishing that a semi-truck would t-bone my SUV so I can call off. I get to work and spend 4 hours staring at the clock willing it to be lunch time. When noon finally arrives, I breathe a sigh of relief then start dreading the end of my lunch hour. By 5pm I'm so exhausted from my long day of loathing that I don't have the energy to be grateful that I'm finally going home. As soon as I walk in the door to my house I start dreading work the next day. Yes, John's life sucks, but here's the secret. This is pretty much everyone's life. So leave your work at work. Every hour you spend dreading going to work is another hour you're miserable. You are working to finance your playing, so try to enjoy every leisure moment available to you. If you expended as much effort trying to LIKE your job as you do hating it, it would be like going to the circus everyday.
*Never Complain*
No one likes listening to others whine. I would go even further with this. Not only should you not complain to others, you should also stop complaining to yourself. It is difficult to be pleasant company while you're annoyed. No one ever died wishing they'd spent more time bitching.
3 comments:
Great post. And I think unpublished writers especially tend to go through this and think, "Why me?" Like you said, it happens to just about everyone (except maybe circus performers). For writers, the preoccupation with that horrible job can cripple the creative process. That's way too much negativity.
Also, thanks for the kind words over at my blog! I don't think "Prismatica" will be too scary. It's more like fantasy fiction contaminated by horror elements.
If you're ever interested in doing a blog-swap, let me know!
I've been going through exactly this with my mind numbing job. And having negative supervisors breathing down down your neck doesn't help! I fixed it by bringing in a notebook and writing. Now I spend 10 hours a day writing instead of bitching on the phone with others and wishing I could quit. I also have 2 other people at work bringing in their notebooks as well and they are going to try putting their books up on amazon too.
Another thing I do is I make a little list every month of all my bills, the big bills, like my house payment and land payment and I watch their balances dwindle as I make 2 and 3 payments towards each at a time.
It helps to see those grow smaller each month.
"I love my job" is our new mantra at work.
I think you put this wonderfully: you have to be accountable not only for your actions to others, but to yourself, as well.
Think of the five meanest things you say to yourself when you look at yourself in the mirror. Would you ever say something like that to someone else? If not, then you'd better start treating yourself better.
And no one likes whiners. 'Nuff said lol.
Nick
One More Day: Kindle Nook
Three Before Dark: Kindle
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