How To Tell If Your Job Is Toxic

Have you ever worked at a place that made just the very thought of it made you nauseous? I have and if you haven't then consider yourself extremely lucky. If you are not sure that your job fits the bill of being toxic then check out my short non-scientific list below.

1. Your boss hates you

 You know that your boss has less than stellar feelings for you if you don't get any of your questions answered and you get zero support on projects your working on. You also don't get considered for promotions and recognized for your accomplishments.

2. Your co-workers are unhappy

This is very apparent. If you hear a lot of gossip going around the office and it isn't about what was on t.v. last night then most often they are complaining about work. The telltale signs of unhappy co-workers is empty seats and a revolving door of new faces coming in it.

3. You are always sick

 This sign is very easy to tell. You always have a headache or stomach issues or flu-like symptoms that keep you from coming to work. 

4. You pretend to be sick to get a day away from work

Who hasn't taken an emotional sick day off from work because it was just that toxic to be there.

If you see any of these signs cropping up in your life then you know your in a toxic job situation and need to get to higher ground fast. Work should be fun not a nightmare. Next week I will take you through some steps on how to survive a toxic job situation if that is what you must do until you find a better opportunity. So are you presently working in a toxic job? I can't be the only one who has experienced this nightmare. 

Be Do Have!

Living Life On Purpose

What comes to mind when you think of how you will look back on your life on your death bed?

Will you have fond memories filled with experiences with friends and family?

Will you be regretful of things you didn't give yourself permission to do?

Well, now is the time to stop and take stock of your life: work, lifestyle, spirituality and health. Are these things in order to what you truly desire for yourself? If not, then it is time to start living life on purpose so that you don't waste any talents or gifts that were given to you. I am a Christian and believe that we have all been given special missions for being here on this earth. We shouldn't waste time doing things we are not passionate about and that are hollow.

Rick Warren states in his book Purpose Driven Life that “Time is your most precious gift, because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can't make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time".

How are you spending your time?

Are you working at a dead end job that you hate because you haven't taken the time to figure out what you truly want to do with your life? If this is true, then the number one thing you can do right this minute is to be still and get into the present moment. Leo Babauta of Zen Habits asks the question, "What’s stopping us from being present right now"? This is a great question to stop and ponder. No matter what faith you believe in it is important to stop, take stock of your life, be present and live life on purpose.

Seriously.

We don't have all the time in the world. All we have is right now to share our special gifts with the world. Yes carpentry is a gift, yes, knowing how to communicate and diffuse an angry customer with care is a gift, yes, sitting still for hours on end while you happily calculate numbers is a gift. It doesn't have to be a glamourous thing that you share just something that you do with passion and love. So what can you do right now to live life more purposefully? Do you want to reach the end of your life and be filled with regret?

Be Do Have!

Freelancers: Working Differently

Change is certainly in the air. The recessionary woes of 2008 are far behind us and the market for the most part is on an upswing. People are spending more and as a result, companies are making more things. The need for professionals who are bright and talented is ever increasing. The way in which those professionals deliver their services are changing too. Jack Telford from Total Freelance states that "we are starting to see the emergence of a more flexible, dynamic workforce. As the Western world begins to emerge from recession, many are returning to work as freelance professionals." 

So what does this means to you? 

What that can mean to you is having a new way to use your skills to create more fulfilling work and make more of an impact. If you're looking for a practical place to find work, then look no further than Flexjobs.com. This site boasts that they "can make your job search experience better, easier, faster, and safer." Those are big claims, but from what I have seen after I searched the site initially and then paid my $14.95 for further research is that the site seems to hold up their end of the bargain. Very well known companies and very non-traditional type opportunities await the end user. So wake up and join the freelancer revolution. This is the wave of the future, so you should at least start checking it out. What do you think about the idea of independent workers and the freelance revolution? Is it completely crazy or right on target? 

Be Do Have! 

How To Make Work Fun

Going to work can be a drag. You literally can feel weighed down and don’t even start talking about those Sunday evenings before the work week begin. 

Pure Terror! 

But what if you could make it a fun activity to do versus being closer aligned to going to the dentist? How can you make work fun? Start with yourself. I know what your thinking “Here we go with the touchy Feeley stuff”!

It Is All Up To You

I personally have worked in some of the craziest places and companies on the face of this earth. I will talk more about this later in my e-book, but with that said I often had to make up my mind that no matter what I encountered when I walked through the door that I would bring a positive attitude and go everywhere to have a good time.

Make Up Your Mind

I know it sounds crazy, but it works. When I went to work and had a "don’t want to be here attitude" and walked around feeling nauseous, then the day would drag on and I felt like I was being punished. However, when I started my day before I got there with an early workout and positive thinking session, my day just breezed by.

The work didn’t change.

The company didn’t change.

The people were still the same people.

What changed was ME.

So how do you make work fun? Start with being a fun person to be around. You will be amazed at how you will stop watching the clock and start being in the moment of where you are. Do you dread going into work every day? Tell me why and what do you do to get ready for the day.

Be Do Have!

Stop Moving!

In order to get stuff done, we have to slow down and focus. I am talking to you out there. And I am also talking to myself. I think moving at the speed of light all the time achieves nothing but a frazzled mind. And multi-tasking is much overrated.

So take a moment to breathe and smell the roses.

Go outside and smell the fresh air and just be still. Do you think it is possible in our ever changing rat race of a world to actually slow down? Tell me what you think below in the comments.

Be Do Have!

Do You Have A Sense Of Urgency In Your Life?

Life is funny. One day you are going through your normal monotony of going to work and living out your day to day existence. Then something out of the ordinary happens to get your attention. It could be good or bad but the end result is that it wakes you up out of your stupor long enough for you to take focused action.

What if you lived your life on purpose every day and took focused action?

For example, what if you woke up each day with a positive routine to start your day? What if instead of complaining to your friends about what isn’t working in your life that you provided them with encouraging words. The outcome of living a life of urgency can be seen all around us. The restaurants we patronage, the doctors we see and the company we work for are all examples of what  people can create when they live a life of urgency. If you're not excited about where you are in life then change your mind and get yourself pumped up.

Life is what you make it and we are not here by accident.

Find out what gifts you are suppose to be sharing and get moving. Tomorrow is not a promise. You only have this moment. Go be awesome and share your talents by being of service to others.

What are you working on in your life right now that has you excited? Tell me below in the comments section.

Be Do Have!

You Deserve A Break

I don't know about you, but sometimes I get so burnt out I want to close the door and hide from my daily life. I want to relax and take some time for myself. Do you ever feel like that sometimes? Well, if you do my suggestion would be to pay attention to that reminder. If you are feeling tired and drained like I mentioned in my previous post, then play hooky on your daily routine and take some time to get rejuvenated. You will thank yourself for the rest later.

Be Do Have!

Can You Visualize What Your Ideal Life Looks Like?

So this blog is about and will always be about creating a lifestyle where you can live & work authentically by doing work you love. But how do we get from where we are sitting reading this to that end goal? We can start by visualizing what our ideal lifestyle and work life would actually look like. Check out this article for tips on visualization. If we can see in our mind what we want then we can start to take small actionable steps to making our dreams real.

Be Do Have!