Who’s your worst enemy at work?

Is it your irritating boss who takes the credit for all your work, plays favourites, constantly changes priorities and doesn’t listen to what you have to say?

Is it your pain-in-the-arse customers who make unreasonable demands, expect immediate service, act all entitled and blame you for things which have nothing to do with you?

Or is it the crazy bureaucracy, mindboggling office politics or your overflowing email inbox?

Well, guess what. 

I’ll wager a pint of Thatcher’s Gold that it’s none of these.

Believe it or not, your worst enemy at work…

Is you!

I don’t know if that stings a little.

But have you ever heard the phrase “wherever you go, there you are”?

It’s the same idea.

It’s why someone who’s fed up with work could quit their job, re-train for two years, begin a new career in a brand-spanking-new industry and then find their old doubts, concerns & frustrations bubble back up and ultimately haven’t gone anywhere despite the change of working scenery. 

It doesn’t come down to the work we’re doing or how many hours we’re working.

And it’s not the job which matters. 

It’s how you approach the job.

This is why any book, coach, course or programme which is all geared up to help you change career, get a promotion or start your own business may well deliver on that promise but is missing the most important piece of the jigsaw.

And that’s delivering on the contentment, fulfilment, ease, peace, flow and calm which ultimately is one of the biggest reasons people change career, get a promotion or start their own business in the first place.

I like the way the “Father of Motivation” Wayne Dyer put it when he said:

When you squeeze an orange, you’ll always get orange juice to come out. What comes out is what’s inside.

The same logic applies to you.

I spent years of my own working life being squeezed and all I saw was stress, apathy and fatigue seeping out of my fleshy pores. 

It was a huge part of the reason I quit my job.  I hated who I’d become and didn’t want to be that person any more.

Luckily for me, after I quit I stumbled on an understanding which has allowed me to go back to the very same job (same team-mates, same boss, same work and almost even nearly the same desk!) and even when I’m squeezed by a last minute deadline, giving a team-mate bad news or presenting to a room of 100+ colleagues, what comes out of me now is a lightness, ease and flow.

So it’s not that I don’t get squeezed any more.  And it’s not that my job has changed.

Instead, the way I relate to the job has changed. 

Which ultimately means I’ve changed.  I’ve gone from being my own worst enemy to my own best friend.

This is where my new group coaching programme Thrive at Work comes in.

If you’d like a more refreshing, revitalising & reinvigorating “juice” whenever you get squeezed at work, this programme is made for you.

To find out more, you can check out all the details here.

That’s all for today.

 - Tom