Happy Cube Dweller
Last week I wrote an article entitled “How to do a Simple Productivity Audit”. One reader who called herself “Cube Dweller” pointed out that she has little control over what she does and how she does it. As a result the tips I had advised were of no use to her or to the millions like her. So I started to think, what if you have no control over your day or the way you organize it?
Micro Managers changing your focus every time they walk your way. Supervisors changing the rules of the game just when you got used to the previous ones. All of this can be frustrating to say the very least, so if you have no control over your job and how it is organized, is there anything that you do have control over?
Attitude
The answer is something that is truly yours to own; your attitude. How you chose to react to your circumstances is within your own control, and no manager or supervisor can say otherwise. Nelson Mandela chose to react with dignity when he was released from Robben Island after 27 years of incarceration. He could have reacted with anger, but he chose compassion and forgiveness.
When you are dumped upon, or your movements controlled or restricted, you can chose to react with frustration and anger or to react with joy, gratitude and positivity. Far-fetched you may think but isn’t being happy what we all want?
Happiness
Wayne Dyer says it well when he says “there is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.” We all share the same goal in life, and that’s not to win the lottery. It’s to be happy. If we look closely at all the goals we have, if it be run a marathon, write a book, or get a promotion, we believe that the experience that we will gain from achieving these things will take us closer to a happy place. So rather than struggle every day to achieve happiness, can we not just be happy now?
Gratitude
Again my cube dweller may tell me he or she has nothing to be grateful for when it comes to the workplace, other than the fact that they have a job, but stepping outside the workplace and looking at your life holistically. What are the things you are grateful for? Your family, friends, health, wealth, nationality, intelligence? Make a list of all the things you are grateful for. It is difficult to feel sorry for yourself when you are feeling gratitude. Gratitude is a powerful tool which can help you through difficult times.
Acts of Kindness
When you do nice things for others not only does it contribute to a sense of well-being and satisfaction, it also means that the good will come back around to you. As it says in the bible, “What you sow so shall you reap.”
Strengths
Are you using your personal strengths? According to Martin Seligman the father of Positive Psychology, if you know your strengths and are using them for the greater good, you are much more likely to have a happy meaningful life. If you are working in a job that uses your strengths you are lucky, some people have to work difficult or boring jobs to feed their families, but hopefully these people use their strengths in different ways outside of the workplace. Ideally if you can use your strengths in the workplace it would make for a larger portion of your life where you feel you are making a difference. It may be something you want to consider, up-skilling or working towards having a job in the future that uses your talents and skills and makes you feel like your days are spent contributing to the bigger picture. If you can do this you will more likely be a happier soul.
So can there be positivity in the workplace? If you try to focus on what’s good in your life as opposed to what is bad, that will be a good place to start. Remember you are in control of your life and your thoughts; it is up to you how you choose to react.
If you have any other tips for bringing positivity into your life and your workplace I would love to hear them.
It’s really a big shame how something like 80% or more of the working population absolutely dread going to work on Monday mornings. Everyone should actively explore ways to either make their workplaces better or as you said, work towards another career or job that will be a better fit. Spending most of our lives in jobs we hate is no way to live. Although I don’t really regret my 20+ years in corporate life, I do think that I spent maybe 10 years too long in there. But at least now I can say that I’ve never been happier now that I’ve made the jump to doing my own thing.
Thanks Clint and well done for having the courage to make the switch. We are all lucky you did, now you can share your experience and knowledge with the rest of us!
Thus, a very useful post! Coincidentally, I have been doing these things at work and it ALWAYS worked. This is my favorite line, by the way, “When you are dumped upon, or your movements controlled or restricted,
you can chose to react with frustration and anger or to react with joy,
gratitude and positivity.” :)
Thus, a very useful post! Coincidentally, I have been doing these things at work and it ALWAYS worked. This is my favorite line, by the way, “When you are dumped upon, or your movements controlled or restricted,
you can chose to react with frustration and anger or to react with joy,
gratitude and positivity.” :)
Very good tips ; though high level,
Thank you Ciara, it’s a great post. I’d just like to add that focusing on your goals and what you ultimately want to achieve also helps. I found that writing things down have an amazing power: in February this year I wrote what I’d like to achieve within 12 months and by July it has been accomplished. Having a vision board can also help to stay on track.
I agree Anna, it’s amazing how once you put pen to paper goals can begin to materialize.
Yes you are rights and your suggestions definitely help people who want to stay positive at work place.
If you have a good working environment, the output will be the maximum so yes, what you all listed is very important.
You’re quite right. Thanks for the fantastic tips. I loved Wayne Dyer’s quote. You know, people complain “if I had this-this-and-this, I’d be happy. The only reason I’m not happy is because I don’t have them”. It’s just how our difficult-to-satisfy mind makes us believe. However, we DON’T actually need something special to become happy. When we get what we desire, we make a list of new desires and (subconsciously) find excuses to stay unhappy. All we need is a change of perspective, not materialistic desires.
As Law of Attraction explains, turn your happy mode ON and you’ll land just where you want to. To attract something in life, we have to become attractive to it.
Nice post! Been kind of sad these past few months but there really came a time that I decided to stop being unhappy. I believe that it is really a matter of mind over matter. You choose the things and the people who’ll make you happy.. You just have to choose to be happy. :)
Very true Rick if you are fortunate enough to like what you do, life becomes a lot easier and a lot more pleasant.