Why do we stay?

I was reading Seth Godin's blog today "Just Doing My Job" and it got me to thinking. Why DO people stay at jobs or companies that they do not enjoy? I mean think about it. On average, we are awake about 5,824 hours a year (because we all know that 8 hours a night is the optimal amount of sleep, right?). Of that, we spend (again on average) of 2,000 hours at work - assuming 40 hours per week and 2 weeks vacation. So that means that over 1/3 of our waking hours are spent actually AT work. If you include commuting to work and thinking about work, it goes up by probably another 400 or 500 hours.

The sad thing is that a LOT of us, don't really enjoy what we do or who we are doing it for. We are just going through the motions. Why? Safety. Security. Fear. Comfort. I suppose all of those things combined exert enough force on us to keep us securely mired.

The old saying "if it were supposed to be fun, it wouldn't be called work" is really pretty bogus. In fact I know of a stonger word that starts with the same letter. There are a lot of people out there who work tirelessly doing meaningful work that they LOVE. So what is different about them? They aren't more driven. They aren't smarter. They aren't even luckier. The only difference is that they had the courage to identify what it is that they love to do, and then figure out a way to do it.

A lot of the people that I know who don't like their jobs all that much, don't really have a good idea of what they DO want to do. They are stuck because they really don't have a better idea - or else they just can't see how to get there from here. I'll talk about that tomorrow - but for today, let's focus on identification.

If you aren't happy doing what you are doing, take a few minutes. Grab a piece of paper and a pen - (do yourself a favor and do this by hand - it does make a difference). Write out a list down the left edge of the things that you don't like about what you are doing. Make it complete. If your boss is a jerk, write it down. If you are bored, write it down. Whatever it is put it on the list. That's step one. Step Two is to create a corrected list. If you don't like your boss, list the traits you don't like, and then right across from it on the right side of the page, make a list of the traits that you WOULD like in a boss. If you are bored, what might be more fun. If there is a specific industry you'd love to work in, write it down. If not, just list the traits of the perfect job.

Get a good picture in your mind about what you would like to do, and then just start talking to people about it. You'll be amazed at how many people really want to help. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't happen overnight, because it might take a while, but keep refining the list and keep talking to people. Surf. Apply for jobs. Go for it. If you can't find it, give some thought to how you might be able to create it.

Your possibilities are limitless.