Finding Satisfaction at Work

“The difference between try and triumph is just a little ‘umph!’”
-Unknown

We are all looking for satisfaction at work. Sometimes we think we know why we don’t have it. We might feel the reason is because our patients have a sense of entitlement or they don’t appreciate what we do. Maybe we feel our co-workers are not team players. Or maybe we feel expectations are too high and it’s impossible to meet everyone’s demands.

No matter what we think the problem is, it all boils down to one single thought: We believe our lack of satisfaction is the result of someone, or something, we routinely encounter which is less than ideal. Moreover, we want someone (other than ourselves), to change, or fix, those less-than-ideal “someones” or “somethings.”

Our thinking tells us that if those undesirable circumstances were removed or changed, we would instantly have job satisfaction. But perhaps it’s our way of thinking that needs to be changed.

Picture yourself standing at one end of a giant rainbow. At the other end is a pot of gold. You want the satisfaction contained in the pot. Now imagine there is a large fence between you and the gold. Did your satisfaction disappear?

No. It’s still there, but now you have to do something to get it. So would you give up and go home? Or would you scale that wall gladly, knowing there are riches waiting for you on the other side? Odds are you would because the fence is simply a challenge – not an impenetrable barrier blocking you from satisfaction.

It is similar for us at work. We want to care for others. This is why we are here. This is also where our satisfaction lies – much like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Those less-than-ideal people and situations are our fences. We need to see them as opportunities for us to get our satisfaction.

We work in an environment where we have plenty of challenges. We can’t control others. Nor can we change them. The only thing we can change, and it is not easy, is ourselves. When each of us works towards changing our thinking, seeing our challenges as opportunities, we begin to change our world!

TAKE ACTION

Today, and every day, dig deep, reach into your soul; find a way to see the obstacle in front of you for what it is: a challenge. See it as the fence you must scale in order to find a way to care, to make a difference.

With this mindset, you will have access to unlimited amounts of job satisfaction. You will become empowered. You will have scaled the fence and found the way to care for another, and you will get some real and lasting, good old-fashioned, satisfaction.

All the best,
Dr. Frank

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