I was going through a rough patch in my business, as I believe we all do from time to time, when I heard one of those ever cheerful, positive thinking, motivational characters with teeth-too-big-and-white-to-be-true say “within every problem is a wonderful opportunity just waiting to be uncovered.” Now, part of me wanted to slap them, but the other part of me believed them!
On this day, the silver lining wrapped gift in this problem was the reminder that enjoyment is as simple as choosing it. I can remember the exact moment this realisation struck me. I was working with my coach and we had done an exercise in which she asked me to write down all the important things to my business, of which enjoyment was one. She then asked me to rate how well I was doing right now at achieving these things. Well on that day, enjoyment rated pretty poorly, not the worst, but running a close second!
Of course the next stage of the exercise was to look at the scores and ask myself what I could do to improve those that were lagging. When I looked at enjoyment (that had a four out of ten score), I remembered that enjoyment is an emotional state that is controlled totally by me. I choose the way that I feel and no-one and nothing can make me feel anything unless I agree to it.
“So John,” my coach enquired, “what can you do to get more enjoyment from work?”
“You know Jane, I teach this to people every day. Enjoyment” I continued, “is simply a choice I make. And I can make that choice at any time, regardless of the circumstances” My enjoyment score went from four to eight faster than a Ferrari on heat simply by choosing it to.
Of course we are not going to be "happy happy joy joy" all the time, although we may be able to turn some situations around via the power of positive thinking.
Let me challenge you to rate your own enjoyment from work. Is it where you want it to be? If not, getting it to where you want it to be is as simple as ABC (and a bonus D if you want)
A = Acknowledge and accept
B = Be responsible for the way you feel
C = Choose the way you want to feel and
D = Don’t that feel good?
“ Of course we are not going to be "happy happy joy joy" all the time, although we may be able to turn some situations around via the power of positive thinking. ”
John Raymond is a coach and trainer who helps people manage people. His aim is that his work will help you to love your work and those important people around you will love the way you work too.
