Could how you treat your bins dictate your career happiness?

Last night as I lay in bed, I felt annoyed enough to still be awake, but not driven enough to do anything about it.

I'd forgotten to put the bins out.

I was worried that we wouldn't be able to last another week without our recycling box overflowing (again). I wondered if my husband might put them out upon returning late from work drinks (unlikely). I was still contemplating putting my trackies on and walking all the way downstairs to put the bins out (ugh).

This was a classic example of knowing you're unhappy, yet doing nothing about it.

My options were simple and could have given me back hours of sleep:

  • Option 1: Accept that the bins would not be emptied this week and go to sleep.

  • Option 2: Get out of bed, put the bins out and go to sleep.

  • Option 3: Mentally torture myself for hours, take zero action and stay awake feeling annoyed. This is what I chose.

Why did I think it was important to tell you all about my garbage conundrum? Because chances are, you've done the same before.

Maybe not about bins, but about something way more relevant: Your sense of fulfilment at work.

If you've been a bit annoyed, a little disenchanted or kind of bored in your career for a while, but you've done nothing about it, I invite you to choose one of those three options above.

No judgement if you choose Option 1. If you can make peace with the fact that career fulfilment isn't your priority right now, accept it, move on and be happy that you consciously made a choice. All power to you.

For goodness sakes please don't choose Option 3. You'll spend years feeling irked and resentful at work. This will leak into other areas of life making your a total pain in the arse to spend time with. I know this to be true because I was once that person.

A huge round of applause if you choose Option 2. You're putting the bins out! You're taking action despite having to crawl out of your warm, cosy, comfortable bed.

If you've decided that this is the year you're going to become the type of person who LOVES waking up for work each morning, I'd love to be your guide. Send me a DM to let me know you read this article and we can chat about how I can best support you through this exciting transition.