Imagine being excited to go to work every day.
You wake up full of energy. You go to the office. You do your best. And then you go home satisfied.
Wouldn’t that be a fun day? Isn’t that how you want your work experience to go?
Sure, there are many factors that contribute to such an experience.
The organization that you work for. The type of work that you do. How good you are at your job. How much meaning you find in your work.
That’s big stuff. And it’s not always easy to adjust those variables.
But that’s no excuse.
Because some of the biggest factors that effect your daily experience is totally under your control.
Even if things aren’t ideal right now. Even if you are miserable, you can turn the situation around.
I will show you how to get started.
1. Change Your Top 5
If you are miserable now, chances are that you are seeking out other miserable people to commiserate with. Misery loves company, after all.
But that is a choice. And not a good one.
The top 5 people that you hang around with at work shape your attitude about work. And that shapes your daily experience.
If you hang around complainers, you are going to hear a lot of complaints.
You will be more likely to complain. You will have more negative energy in you and around you. Wallowing in that is not a recipe for a great day at work.
If you hang around with positive people instead, you will hear a more encouraging narrative.
Positive people tend to look to the future and be open to new possibilities. You will be more likely to see the bright side of things in this crowd. You may become more optimistic yourself. That gives you a better chance at a good workday experience.
Cynics help you to be cynical.
They tell you all the negative stuff that they are thinking about. They enthusiastically embrace your complaints. More often than not, this results in a bunch of bad energy building up without any real positive action to change things. It’s unproductive venting.
Blowing off a little steam is ok. Healthy even. But it’s crucial to get back to a positive mindset afterwards.
The real question is not what’s miserable, but rather what are you going to do to make things better? That’s what you must focus on.
Positive people help you do that.
Positive people help you to think more optimistically. They like to look on the bright side. They encourage you to think positively too.
They will not only embrace your positive energy, they will help to turn your concerns around. Positive people are more active. That’s the crowd you want to hang with.
2. Start Each Day With a Better Attitude
Getting off to a good start is important.
If you let yourself dread going to work, you are already starting the day at a disadvantage.
Dwell on the negative before you work your first minute of the day and you are setting yourself up for a struggle.
If you find a way to start off on the right foot, you can launch yourself into a better day.
Think about the positive aspects of your day and you give yourself something to look forward to.
Even if you face a difficult situation, you can look forward to something. Even small things. Focus on those as you approach the work day.
It’s ok to cheat too. Sometimes it’s a matter of pumping yourself up for a great day. Do something fun in the morning that gets you in a good mood.
Listen to your favorite band. Watch a clip from your favorite movie or TV show. Read for 10 minutes from a great book.
The thing you do just before you do something else can really impact how that next thing goes. Start with some positive energy and you are likely to see more positive than negative in what happens next. Use that to your advantage.
A Powerful One-Two Punch
Start to change your own attitude and who you hang around with at work and you will start to reshape your entire workday experience.
You can chip away at both over time. Look for small opportunities to get time with positive people. Find small excuses to start spending less time with the negative folk.
Find small ways to start your day on a positive note. Prime yourself for a positive day with fun or funny (laughing is a great way to start the day!) little activities before work.
As you think about the work day ahead, find things that you can look forward to. Don’t dwell on things that you dread. They will still come at you, but you can just step through them and get on with things.
The great thing is that each of these things builds on each other. As you spend more time around people with positive energy, your own attitude improves. As you improve your own attitude, you become more attractive to people with positive energy and less attractive to the naysayers.
Decide to start having better days at work. Every day.
