Stress is a very serious issue that many people face. It can cause other medical conditions that can be very damaging to ones overall health.

But how does this relate to enjoying the job more or making it more tolerable. Just as when we are stressed out on our jobs we take it out at home, the same can be said for stress at home. It can come from a number of different situations. Let’s say we are going through a messy divorce or the kids are getting into trouble or we have car trouble, etc. We take those negative feelings and carry them with us into different settings.

It may not be the job at all but the stress we are facing in other areas of our lives that are making us dread work. So let us start looking over our lives to see if we are really happy at home because it could really effect how we feel and perform on our jobs.

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Are we getting enough rest? This is a question we should all ask ourselves and most of the time the answer is no. But sleep plays a vital role in how we feel emotionally and how productive we are. And it can help you enjoy your job more.

When we get enough rest we are more upbeat, more ready to take on challenges and ready to be productive. You cannot give maximum effort if you do not have the energy to do so.
Notice how when you are sleep deprived how cranky and easily frustrated you get over the smallest things. And you are not usually productive because you keep thinking about sleep and how tired you are.

With a lack of sleep and a cranky mood any task you take on can seem difficult or just plain boring. This is not to say that because you get adequate rest that you will just adore your job, but it can help in the way that you approach it. Rest can help you put a positive spin on things.

For example, my four year old does not like to go to bed but he also does not like to get up in the morning. But what I began to notice is how much more willing he is to go to school when he gets plenty of rest. When he doesn’t get enough sleep he fights me tooth and nail to not go to school. He tries anything he can, such as tummy ache. But when he gets a full night of rest he just goes with the flow with very little resistance, which made me notice his attitude which is much more pleasant.

I say all of this to say get enough rest. When you get enough rest you’re attitude is better and you are more willing to take on the challenges of a difficult work day. Even if you don’t like the work you do, you are more likely to find a temporary solution to get you through the day, instead of just complaining and doing nothing about it.

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Our attitudes play a major role in how we feel about anything that happens to us or anything we do. Our perspective is what changes a situation. Our reaction to a situation can be the difference between a good outcome and a bad outcome.

Let’s look at an example. Imagine you are running a business and everything is going good. You are making tons of cash, which is always good, and the business is flourishing. All of a sudden the economy goes into a recession, your business goes bankrupt and you have to start all over.

Now you can look at this two different ways. The first way is to play the victim and hope to get sympathy from everyone because you didn’t deserve this. You can’t believe this happened to you. It is nothing wrong with feeling this way but too many of us stay in this stage for extended periods of time and this can hurt us in the long run.

The second way to look at it is to feel like this was a great learning experience. You have acquired very valuable skills that you can apply to your next business venture. Now the difference with both perspectives is that the first one stops you from accomplishing anything and the second one opens a door to limitless possibilities.

You see how just your reaction to things can really change a bad situation into a great opportunity. So when you feel like your job sucks and nothing is going right, change you attitude and your perspective and see how the situation is not as bad as you make it out to be.

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Recognition or money is a discussion I have at work often with my co-workers. Even though we all love money as a reward for a job well done, a little recognition does make you feel better about your job. I just recently recieved a minor award for being one of the top performers at my job. We had to reach certain benchmarks and I was able to exceed them:-). Well enough of my bragging lets get to the rest of the article.

Sometimes when you get recognition it does not seem to be anything near the value that you have brought to the company. In all honesty it probably is not. Money always seems like a better alternative, but there are benefits to both.

Money is beneficial because you can use it right away. You may pay a bill, buy something that you really wanted that was out of the budget, or just use it for extra savings. Any money recieved is immediate so we want that instant gratification.

But recognition plays a significant role in what we are trying to accomplish. Using awards and accolades to show that you are a hard worker or that you perform your job above expectations can benefit you when submitting your resume when you are looking for job or as an entrepreneur to give you credibility in whatever business oportunity you pursue. For example, if you are a financial consultant, and you have awards showing that you have the highest customer satisfaction rating of all the agents within your company, people are more willing to give you a shot if you go out on your own to start your own consulting business because the awards give you credibility.

So do not discount your recognition awards as I once did, but embrace them because they can help you further your career in whatever road you take, be it the 9 to 5 route or the entrepreneurial route.

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Most people will not be happy with a job even if they love it. That sounds like an oxymoron. How can you not be happy with something that you love. It kind of like the phrase absolutely not. How can something be absolute, if it is not absolute. Anyway, how can this be so?

This is so, because the problem with having a job is that it goes against our nature to be independent. Think back to when you were a child, you wanted to be grownup so bad. I cannot even help my 4 year old son zip his coat because he wants to be independent and do everything himself. As children you love your parents, but you hate when they tell you what to do. That is the same way with a boss. You love the job but you hate being told what to do.

Another example is being in a relationship. When you first begin dating someone you want to spend every waking moment with them. As time passes you began to establish your independence in the relationship by not spending all your free time together and by doing seperate things that you enjoy that your partner may not. If you do not began this stage of independence most people become burnt out or feel smothered. You see, no matter what situation we are in throughout our lives, we all want some form of independence.

So what can we do? As kids, to feel independent you rebel against your parents by acting out, talking back and doing things even when they tell you not to. As adults you do not have that luxury because you have bills to pay. What adults can do is begin to create alternative sources of income. Once you stop depending solely on your job for income, a strange thing happens, you begin to feel freedom that we all naturally crave as humans.

Even if you were to lose your job, you would still have some form of income to bridge the gap from being unemployed to being employed again. Also you could use the time to run your side business full time. So get the monkey off your back and start to enjoy life. Here is a list of business ideas that may spark your imagination at entrepreneur.com and moolanomy.com. Please leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say.

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Being a child again to enjoy work. Think about that for a minute. Does that even make sense. Well it takes a little imagination which we were excellent at as children but we are horrible at as adults.

How were you as a child? Most of us would create in our minds what we did not physically have. If you had no friends you made up an imaginary friend. Because you can’t fly, you pretended that you could fly. This imagination went a long way to help you enjoy your childhood.

We can use this same imagination as adults. If you don’t feel you have freedom at work, find ways to imagine you do. If you hate your job try using your imagination to enjoy a day more. Imagine it was you corporation and you had to make a deadline as the CEO. Imagine you are an entrepreneur and your one person company is handling a big job for them. Try imagining all the steps it takes to become a successful entrepreneur and you start creating the steps, one by one.

Just as when you were a child and you imagined things to make the time pass by, why not do the same as an adult, but start putting them into action to make them become a reality.

Share your thoughts. I would love to hear what you have to say.

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Stop being a slave and find your passion. That is something you always hear. Well maybe not the being a slave part but you get the picture. What is a slave? Answers.com defines slavery as one bound in servitude as the property of a person or household and I will add a corporation. Isn’t that essentially what us employees do. We go to lunch when the boss says to, we go on vacation when the boss tells us to and we come and go to a schedule that is set for us. When you get out of line in the form of taking sick days, or calling off or late from breaks or lunches, you are met with the iron whip of discipline and company policy. That sounds like slavery to me.

Now, there is nothing wrong with loving your job and what you do for a living. Some people love there job and it is their passion. For example, doctors have jobs, lawyers have jobs. The difference is that with there passion of medicine or law they create a job. So instead of getting a job doing something they hate, they create a job doing something they love. Why can’t we do the same? Instead of just taking a job we can create one. Whatever it is, if it is shopping why not make a shopping website or if it is basketball why not run a camp. You get the picture. So next time you think, I don’t want to go to work or man I hate this job, remember you have the option of creating a job out of your passion and your life will be much more fulfilling.

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This is a short post on today. Nothing to deep but very helpful. Anyone that works outside the home has the issue of a commute. It includes long drives, tons of traffic, and usually loads of gas. But instead of dreading the commute we can use it to our advantage. Here is a short list of things anyone can do to use this time useful:

1. Listen to self-help cds. This is a great time to listen to something that can help you improve yourself to further your job, career or for self-development.

2. Brainstorm possible business ideas. You could come up with a great idea that could help you stop making this commute altogether.

3. Call family you have not spoken to for while. If you are stuck in traffic you could call family you have not spoken to, and it does not cut into your daily schedule.

4. Practice patience. Most people are impatient by nature because we all want everything right now. In this situation you have no choice, so why not use this to work on being more patient.

5. Enjoy the quiet personal time. Everyone has a busy schedule and has a day packed with things to do. Take this time to listen to nice music and relax and enjoy the ride.

This is a short list and there are many other things that can be done.

I would love to hear your ideas in the comments.

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In the wake of the economy going south and companies cutting cost in the form of layoffs I asked myself this question. Should CEO’s give up some of their pay for lower level employees and the company itself to benefit. We will look at some of the benefits of the CEO doing so such as better employee morale and better bottom line margins.

Employee morale is very important in a company. It not only makes the company more profitable it also has employees working harder. The reason I say this is because when the CEO gives up some of their pay it makes lower level employees feel as though they care about the well being of the company not just fattening their pockets. Lower level employees get hit with everything from pay cuts to sliced benefits, so when the CEO takes a hit too, it makes other employees feel that everyone is in this together.

For example, look at GM and the upper level management didn’t want to give up their salaries. But all the factory workers are taking pay cuts or slashed benefits or outright layoffs. When this happens, there is a level of resentment towards the other party which strains the relationship. Interviews taken of factory workers showed them wondering why they are the ones giving up everything. So when everyone takes a hit lower level employees don’t feel under appreciated and bullied.

The second reason it could be good for CEO’s to give up some money is so the bottom line can benefit. The enormous salaries can be used to better profit margins or even give lower level employees most of whom don’t make a tenth of what CEO’s make some kind of bonus. This will help most companies who are publicly traded benefit in the stock market as well which directly and indirectly benefits everyone.

What do you guys think? Your opinion really matters so please leave your thoughts.

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In these trying times in business and personal life I want to explore whether layoffs are the only option for companies to cut cost? What other measures can they take to keep their companies afloat. Is it possible to have pay cuts, to slice benefits, or to make employees part-time?

Lets first look at a pay cut. It is not the most ideal situation for an employee but it has to be better than the alternative, which is no pay. Employees that see the value in doing this are very valuable because the understand what it takes to run a business. The main issue is that it needs to be something that all employees receive including the CEO. If lower level employees are getting pay cuts and management is getting bonuses, which we see so often nowadays, it can cause employees to rebel with less than stellar work. If everyone gets the same it should be fine and if any employees have a problem with that, then you don’t want them anyway because they do not have the companies best interest.

Next, we look at making employees part-time. Again not the most ideal situation but it allows employees to still have some form of income while the economy recovers. Having employees part-time with some of the full time benefits can really save money if done correctly. Also companies can weed out the employees that are there just for a check and who hate the job. Many employees will just leave and look for another job but if they really care for the company they will stick with it through thick and thin.

The last reason I will look at is to either reduce benefits or give the employee a bigger chunk of the expense. This could help the company by making employees more responsible for their health outside of the doctor. By making employees take on more they would normally look to preventive measures so they can reduce their doctors bills, which in turn may allow the company to negotiate lower rates for premiums or co-pays thus saving the company money.

This is not at all a complete list of things a company can do before just laying off but it is something to think about. There are countless other ideas that can be implemented to save companies money and employees jobs. I would love to hear other suggestions from you in the comments. What to you guys think?

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