Inside Job

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Episode 132: Building A Better Relationship With Work Part 1

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Today on the podcast we kick things off by discussing the various types of “metric tons” we can use as yardsticks for measuring our experience of work before moving into the core of our conversation: Our relationship with work.

We open by exploring whether leaving one situation to go to another situation is really the way to improve the way we relate to our work. Sometimes we may be ready to get out of our current position. But other times we may not want to leave our job but we know something needs to shift. Doing the inside work allows us to avoid the trap of “changing the wallpaper” rather than truly making things better.

Having a relationship with work also requires us to do our inside work to show up as the fullest version of ourselves and deliver our best work. If we are not doing that inside job, even if we leave, the issues that we experience will probably follow us to our next job.

Viewing our work life as a relationship gives us language to use when we explore what’s working or not working. We spend more time at work than doing anything else and when it hurts we can take action just like we do in any other relationship. Then, work is no longer something that happens to us, it’s a relationship with highs and lows we’ll work through along the way.

Our relationship with work allows us to be accountable for what we are (or aren’t) bringing with us to our work and to recognize when our skills or needs have changed. When we do so, we can also accept that change is part of the relationship and that such change doesn’t automatically mean we have to leave because (like other relationships) our work can grow with us through the seasons of our lives.

We’re not done with this conversation. So, stay tuned for part two of this conversation next week.

In the meantime, use the questions we provide to assess the health of your relationship by understanding what you need from a healthy relationship with work, and use yourself as a barometer to measure whether you are able to be your fullest self in the relationship you currently have with work.

And be sure to get on our newsletter list so you can get these questions and more sent straight to your inbox.

In Our Conversation Today, We’re Exploring:

  • The value of using relationship language to describe how we relate to work

  • How the inside work we do can make a difference in the experiences we have at work

  • How Nayla validated Eric’s relationship with Pearl Jam

  • How taking responsibility for our experiences at work can empower us to change what’s not working

  • Why the grass is not always greener (or the wallpaper any better) in a new position or at a new company

  • The questions you can ask to reflect on your own relationship with work

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