Man, have I been there early on in my career. I have one word for you: education.
If you’re not loving what you do, the one surefire way to stay motivated (at least in your life, if not your job) is to seriously find yourself something new to learn. It doesn’t even have to be related to your career. It could be something totally different and unrelated to work, like painting or dancing, and that’s cool too.
I made the mistake for the first few years of my career of putting all my eggs into one basket. I dedicated myself 100% to my career. It was easy to do, working in PR, and I wanted to advance my career so I thought long hours and full-on dedication were essential.
Ironically, this backfired. Why? Because when challenges came up, and the usual frustrations that arise during a career inevitably arose, I had nothing else in my life (I had friends and family, but nothing I could call my own).
This meant that things affected me more than they should have. I was unable to recover quickly, and even relatively small incidents would sap my confidence far more than they should have.
When you have interests and passions, and are developing and growing outside of your day job in other areas of your life, you’ll start to feel more confident, resilient, and more in control of your own growth.
This will actually enhance your performance in your day job, or help you figure out what else it is you want to do if it’s not that job, as well as create a happier you.
Excuses? I hear you.
There’s plenty of excuses to not do stuff outside of work. Here’s a couple of them that I can address for you right now.
Number 1 excuse for not pursuing interests or continued learning outside of work: I have no time.
This is an excuse, and you’re holding yourself back with it. Learning something new or taking up a new hobby could take you as little as an hour a week, or even an hour a fortnight.
Negotiate with others in your life to help you to secure that time. Ask a friend to look after your kids for an hour, then you’ll do the same for her in return.
Leave work on time one day a week. Skip watching TV. Outsource the cleaning. Whatever you need to do, find a way to make it happen because YOU are important.
It just takes dedication and commitment.
Number 2 excuse: There’s nothing of interest to learn / I don’t like learning / I’m not good at learning
These are all limiting beliefs, and completely untrue. You just have to get over the false myth perpetuated at school / in your social life that learning sucks. Learning doesn’t suck.
Learning contributes to growth, prosperity, abundance, confidence, security, knowledge, wisdom. It is also fun, if you’re learning the stuff that interests you!
Find something that tweaks your interest. It could be something as small as candle making or as big as an MBA. That knowledge will help to inspire the rest of your life and career.
How do you get inspired in your career?