Work can be tough and not always easy. That doesn’t mean you have to hate your job. We know that enjoying your work leads to better mental health and work prospects, so how do you make the most of your job? It’s easy if you know the secret to loving what you do.
Fun at Work vs. Loving What You Do
In my last post I shared with you the 3 biggest benefits of having fun at work. Before that, I explained why fun at work matters. Fun at work simply makes the job easier, particularly when you have a squid on your head, a situation I fortunately can rarely relate to.
But making the most of a situation regardless if it’s good, bad, or indifferent is not the same as loving what you do. I might whistle while I do the chores; that does’t mean I enjoy doing them.
Loving what you do is something different than having fun at work. It’s about actually… well… loving what you do. I guess that was already obvious. Yay me for solid word choice!
To go beyond having fun at work, you need to understand the secret to loving what you do.
The Secret to Loving what You Do
When I’m stumbling away from a lumbering mutant called Goliath, I call it “getting in my exercise”. When I find myself fleeing a flying squid, I call it “staying grounded”. When I’m being chased by a scorpion-tailed horse… well, I just run really, because those things are frightening.
The secret to loving what you do is similar. It uses the same technique. It’s called reframing.
Part of Bob’s job as assistant to a mad scientist is plunging toilets. When he explained to me what that meant, it sounded horrible. But then he told he that he looks at it as helping people deal with a necessary human action with as little unpleasantness as possible. He sees what he does as a way to improve lives, which explains why he’s always happy.
The next time you pick up a shovel to dig a moat, think of it as protecting your village. The next time you work over a hot stovepipe (did I get that right?) think of it as feeding hungry people with your human kooking. Just like employees that stand out, focusing on how you make the world better is the way to absolutely love what you do.
