The Office Jungle - Judi James

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is self-explanatory. What direction do you see your job going in? What are your goals within your company? How do you want to be perceived and how ambitious are you?

       Long-Term Career

      This is harder to visualize. Do you see yourself running the company you work for one day? Or are you happy enough in the position you hold? Do you want to start your own business? Do your long-term plans include a complete change of path? Do you have something more scintillating in mind? Find out what you consider to be dreams and what you plan to turn into reality. Then set time-scales and action plans.

       Life

      This list should include ideas on marriage, family, housing and well-being. Do you intend staying in this country or moving abroad? Do you want to be rich – if so, how rich? Did you plan on running off to a commune one day and living off the land? Are there any hobbies you always wanted to take up? Do you aim to get fit? Give up smoking? Learn to speak Cantonese?

       How to Be Happy

      People see happiness as a basic right. Parents are fond of telling their kids: ‘All I want is for you to be happy.’ We tell ourselves: ‘I just want to be happy.’ Yet true happiness is a difficult thing to achieve, and words like ‘just’ and ‘all’ don’t make it any easier.

      What makes you happy? The trouble is we don’t know. We think we have a good idea: ‘I would be happy if I could win money … change jobs … sell my house … get married … get divorced … get drunk …’ The list is endless. Yet a change in circumstance doesn’t always guarantee a change in mood. Take the Office Whinger, for instance. Can you think that anything anyone could do would make them happy on a long-term basis? If they won the pools they’d be complaining that one holiday seems very much like another after a while.

      Most of us stumble through our working lives without ever understanding our own pecking order of requirements to be happy. Again, we have been too busy listening to other people tell us what we want. Money, status, being your own boss – these will all make some people happy but there’s many others they won’t suit.

       The Buzz

      You need to understand what gives you the biggest buzz during the working day. Often the results are surprising. We are all individuals when it comes to The Buzz.

      Printed below is a list of some of the things that will give job satisfaction. Tick the ten that would give you the biggest buzz and then try and list them in order. Be honest with yourself and visualize each event happening to study your true feelings.

      1 Clearing your desk of work.

      2 Enjoying the company of colleagues.

      3 The social life of work – drinks at the pub, outings, team sports, etc.

      4 Making a product.

      5 Selling a product.

      6 Outdoing your colleagues.

      7 Hearing the office gossip.

      8 Getting paid.

      9 Completing a task as a team.

      10 Making a customer happy.

      11 Being thanked by a customer in person.

      12 Receiving a written note, a tip or a small gift from a customer.

      13 Winning praise from your boss.

      14 Hearing the company as a whole is doing well.

      15 Winning public praise.

      16 Winning a prize from the company for your work.

      17 Seeing your name in the press or on TV.

      18 Owning a company.

      19 Gaining respect from others.

      20 Gaining friendship from others.

      21 Leaving the office at the end of the day.

      22 Being promoted to a job with a higher-ranking title but for no extra pay.

      23 Keeping your same title and duties but being given a pay rise.

      24 Learning new skills.

      25 Moaning about the boss.

       ACTION PLAN:

      1 Take time to learn about your own personal ‘buzz’ factor. What makes you happy in your career?

      2 Then begin setting goals to achieve your objectives.Make lists and long-term plans.

       5 Over the Barricades

      ‘You can achieve anything in this life if you only try hard enough.’ Would that this were true. Remember, you’re going to target more realistic solutions. You know you could be a multimillionaire if you really set your mind to it; but you also know you can be a lazy, undisciplined, little toe-rag deep down, too – however positive you manage to appear most of the time.

       The Only Way is Up

      Once you’ve worked out your objectives, the next step is to take a good look at any barricades that you feel are blocking your path to achieving them.

       EXERCISE:

      Settle down with a sturdy felt-tip and as much ire and angst as you can muster and fill a sheet of paper with all the things that you believe are barriers between yourself and true happiness, business success and achievement.

      Anger and resentment are vital for this exercise, so let rip. If you’re such a decent type and feel the need of a little stimulation to get started, try a few of these options:

      Unsupportive/pushy mother/father.

      Bullied at school.

      Bullied at work.

      Unhelpful teachers.

      Critical boss.

      Unsupportive boss.

      Unsupportive staff.

      Kids/husband/wife/dog/gerbil in need of maintenance.

      Sneering colleagues.

      The glass-ceiling syndrome.

      Sexism.

      Racism.

      Ageism.

      The wrong government in power.

      Constant change at work.

      Fear of change.

      Accent.

      Appearance.

      Lack of qualifications.

      Too many qualifications.

      Lack of confidence.

      Managers who can’t manage.

      Staff who can’t work.

      Poor communications at work.

      Fire-fighting.

      In-fighting.

      Nobody understands me, only the dog … etc., etc.

      List what you feel to be your personal barriers. Think randomly and brainstorm as much as possible. Then divide your barriers under three headings:

      • Surmountable

      • Self-inflicted

      • Insurmountable

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