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How to Love Your Job Again

5 tips and tricks to love your job
Blogged while listening to 90's R&B in my backyard lounge. 
Today's blog is inspired by my current feelings right at this instant and should not be taken as an exaggeration of an all-encompassing unhappiness for my job. While I am interacting with my students and coworkers, I am generally happy. However, there has been a creeping dislike for the direction and morale that is currently engulfing my place of work. In trying to self-reflect, I have put the blame on my Sagittarius qualities of having too many interests, becoming bored too easily, and a great need for challenges and growth opportunities. All of these qualities are surfacing and in my current state of emotions are not being placated by my job, to no fault of my job, of coarse. In an article of the Best and Worst Careers for a Sagittarius, teaching has always been a calling for Sagis. So one would think that I'm in my ideal situation, right? NOPE. I keep having to work at loving what I do. I'm still in the current struggle of managing my resentment towards my job and loving what I do, but I figured I'd come up with some ways to love my job again and share. My feeling is to just get up and walk away, however, I do know that when I am happy, my job brings great value to my life. So here's me trying to go from glum to back at being the bomb!
FROM:

TO:

1. Focus on the WHY. I knew that I wanted to teach so that I had the opportunity to help students grow and gain a love of learning. The WHY I teach is what keeps me pushing through even the toughest days. I teach to inspire. I teach to help. I teach to share love. I teach to laugh. I teach to have fun. If I can impart any of those to my students, then I can say I've had a good day. All the other b.s. of grading, meetings, lesson planning, etc. is the least of why I do what I do. I genuinely care for my students and want to help them prepare to be good, happy, and problem solving people in the future. 

2. Focus on the POSITIVES. As a teacher, I love my days off, summers, breaks, etc. I love that everyday the experiences I have are new with each class. I have great coworkers and direct administration that I get along with and can have fun with. My students really are well mannered young-adults and that gives me hope that they will be genuinely good people. I feel that I am respected and valued by my colleagues and those are things that make me happy at work. By focusing on all of these positives, it allows me to focus on being happy. 

3. Give yourself some SPACE. I must admit that I can become a workaholic. In the beginning of the school year I spent every waking hour during the week working. It usually takes me a couple of months to get a grip, and find a better work life balance. I must admit that since I have grown a partial unhappiness at work, I have put some space between myself and it. I refuse to work on the weekends (for the most part at least since I did spend the majority of my Saturday watching TV and grading papers). I make sure that I spend time doing things that I enjoy, like blogging. So now, when I get home, instead of getting on the computer to lesson plan or grade, I get on the computer the blog. Another way I give myself space is that I no longer hoard sick days. If a trip/vacation opportunity comes up, I do not hesitate to take a personal/sick day to enjoy myself. Overworking myself can cause sickness, so why not take preventative measures for my health and enjoy a trip here and there. I'm going to take a day off to go to Disney with my girlfriends next week and I am taking a couple of days off in a couple of months to attend my cousin's wedding out of state. Even with my workaholic personality, I am more than happy now focusing on what's important, and that is enjoying life and taking full advantage of vacations. This does not mean however that I neglect my job, nor my professional development. I do all that is required of me and I constantly skim and share articles that may improve my place of work. I think that I have just put more emphasis on my personal development. 

4. Be PICKY. I was always a "yes man". I'm reliable and dependable and I always do what is asked of me by my bosses, and am always willing to help a coworker. However, I have seen that being a "yes man" has lead people to automatically lean on me causing unnecessary stress on me by taking on things that didn't actually add value to my life. I have learned how to say "No",  "I don't have extra time to help you at this moment", or "This person is really knowledgeable about that topic, or has a really great idea, why don't you talk to them?".  Now I can focus on projects that will help me become a better teacher for my students, and if not a burden, I can share those things I've learned with my fellow teachers. I am more intentional about how I spend my time, and it has been a deal of difference. 

5. Surround yourself with coworkers that LOVE THEIR JOBS. It is too easy to surround yourself with people that are also unhappy with their jobs. If the morale is down, it is too easy for your misery to find company. However, a cost of surrounding yourself with other like-minded negative people is you spiraling further into disdain towards your job. Surround yourself with people that are positive about their jobs. It's worth working with that ambitious new employee, or becoming a mentor to a new hire and letting their energy and positivity rub off on you. Work with and learn from those incomers who have that fire in them to do great things. If there's no one at your job that loves their job, find a friend or family member that loves what they do and let that spark inspire you to focus on reigniting the spark within you. 


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With this I leave you all, in our concurrent journeys to find happiness. Please let me know how you love your job, or what you plan to do to love your job again. Always in Service - Dania Borrero. 

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