career

Have you had enough of being dissatisfied with your job?

Feeling dissatisfied with your job can reach a peak for people around Christmas and the New Year. The time off work that many of us have gives us space to reflect on where we’re going, what we want and what’s perhaps missing for us. Problems at work Problems at work and maybe signs on the wall that you had better move on before you get moved is one factor. We may not be getting on all that well with our work and it’s registering somewhere in the system, like with your boss, the results you’re getting, or the feedback. This … Read more

Are you not feeling fulfilled in life?

Has it dawned on you at some point that you are not feeling fulfilled in life? It happens, to more of us than I think many of us realise. It is in relation to work that this can most show up, but it can also affect us more generally. Yet another survey tells us in the UK that around one third of us are not feeling fulfilled in our work, particularly those in their late 30’s to mid-40’s. For those in that age range, and others, it would come as no surprise since some form of self-searching about their direction … Read more

Do you really only live to work or work to live?

This is a very well-used phrase but I think a false dichotomy, “you live to work or work to live”. It puts two contrasting scenarios together as if they are alternative choices. It reminds me of that old hackneyed interview question, “Are you a small fish in a big pond, or a big one in a little pond?” leaving no way out for a third option, like a middle way, unless you choose of course not to play by the implied rules. Yet you could change it a bit and, as with Josephine Fairely, simply have a passion for what … Read more

Do you feel under pressure to be doing more with less?

Do you feel under pressure to be doing more with less? And is that leading you to be questioning your future in your work? It probably isn’t surprising to read that many people would probably like a change of work, but don’t feel able in the current climate to perhaps take the risk. Yet, thinking like  that shows up the fact that motivation at work is not what it needs to be. It can take a lot to take action and make a move. So, what is it that gets us off our butt and go to all that trouble … Read more

Where are you going with your life that gives you meaning?

A theme that I hear a lot concerns the “prevailing gloom” in our society at present, ascribed as it is to the still-ongoing recession. Despite brief attempted “fixes” like the Olympics or the Jubilee here in the UK this undercurrent seems to run and run. We can get brief “fixes” from all sorts of directions, entertainment, eating and drinking among them, but when there’s an underlying malaise the problem doesn’t necessarily go away unless we deal with what’s causing it. Not surprisingly with another economic downturn, there’s lots of change happening and motivation at work has fallen. A brief respite … Read more

Athletes too can lose their sense of purpose

It’s not just the spectators who feel a drop in spirits after the Olympics. Athletes do too. The post-games depression is a very real occurrence that many sports lovers will know well. There you are, for two weeks absorbed in what might be for you the best sporting event in ages, caught up in all the drama, sharing in the emotion, rejoicing when your stars win, it can become almost a life of its own. And it brings people together and we all feel the collective joy of a particular success by some sportsperson. Just think of the enormous cheering … Read more

Job satisfaction falls in the recession

It will probably not come as a great surprise to many people to learn that a majority of staffare not satisfied in their jobs or proud of the company they work for. Job satisfaction has plummeted as the recession has worn on. It points up the importance for managers to be regularly thinking about how they motivate their people, but also for the people themselves to be thinking about what they value in their work and where they are coming from too. For staff themselves this should perhaps be no surprise in that we have been having a lengthy period of … Read more

Losing your job can be anticipated and prepared for

Back with a bump, one might think after two weeks of Olympic euphoria, and yet here again is a stark reminder of the need to be vigilant with regard to your career and employability in the face of threats to losing your job. Today another reminder came of the very difficult underlying trends in the UK economy, with predictions that employers might soon start making a lot more redundancies than they have to date. With the economy still officially in recession and the eurozone crisis far from resolved, it seems employers are thinking they are finally going to have to … Read more

An inspiring vision that you feel impelled to make a reality

Vision and purpose are those things that you hear businesses talk about about, often rather glibly, but it doesn’t figure so much with individuals. When I ask people about this, they often say they “don’t know”, although if we dig around a bit then they come up with certain specific, often short-term material desires for the future. Purpose usually draws a blank. This is quite serious given how insecure many jobs are in today’s climate. Now you could say that in itself describes a vision by default, which might be limited to one of survival, and perhaps people are thinking … Read more