How to survive a crappy job

Work a job you hate? Feel trapped and as if nothing will change? This is the post for you.

I, like you used to feel trapped and as if nothing would ever change. I knew that I wanted a happier, healthier life. But I also had bills. And bills don't care that I don't like my job, they just want to be paid.

So I probably like you stayed in the job I didn't like. I worked my hours, came home and felt stressed and then depressed.

There is another option. Now this might sound like some new age bullshit but it isn't.

Be positive.

There is some technical physiological cause and effects I could go into -including triangles, but I won't. Instead know that your emotions, your feelings and your actions all feedback on each other. If you do something and tell yourself "I'm crap" then that feeds back into your world view, into your emotions and causes further negativity and feelings of hopelessness.

IF something unfortunate happens to you it is better to instead focus on the positivity. Now this can be tricky because it requires a lot more willpower to change what can be some deep seated psychophysical habits. Think of your mind much like your body. There is a reason it is easier to get fat than it is to stay skinny and exercise. Fat is the same as negativity and depression for some people. Some of us seem to be hard wired to be negative. To think negatively and to act that way. But we aren't. By changing our internal thought process and our external habits and actions we can plot a more positive life for ourselves.

At this point you're probably thinking that it is pointless to "feel positive" about my crappy job because that doesn't change my situation. Of course you should look at other jobs. Work towards them. Enrol in courses, do anything to help you get a job you enjoy. But in the meantime you are probably going to have to stay in this job. So instead think about what your job allows you to do:

• Does it allow you to pay rent?
• Is it cruisey?
• Does it allow you lots of time with friends and family?
• Are the people you work with nice?
• Are you making a difference?

Now not all of those answers are going to be positive. At least one might. There will be something, even something tiny that is positive about your job. Even if it is that you can afford to buy food. Focus on the positive.

Next is the tough bit. Change. Change is hard. It is even harder when we have had maybe 10, 20 or even 50+ years of thinking a certain way. But change is possible. Like anything it takes work. People don't get to be the fastest runner or the best swimmer in the world by just hoping it so. No-one ever talks about the 6am swimming sessions, the missing out on boozing with mates because they have swim/run meets the following day. No we focus on the medals and broken records. It is the nitty gritty that will change your life. You have to be willing to change your thinking.

Everyday you need to see the positive. To wake up and try to make tiny changes to your life. By thinking positively can lead to great change. The snowball effect. A small snowball with the right mountain can become massive, unstoppable. Maybe it is about time you became that snowball? You deserve it.

By focusing on what you think about yourself everyday and making changes little by little you will become a more positive, happy and passionate person.