How to Get Out of Your Work Rut and Feel More Satisfied and Happy

When you first start a new job there tends to be a lot of excitement, promise, and hope attached to it. You feel good about the present and the future, and start setting all kinds of career goals for yourself, with the hope that they will come to pass. Over time, however, you can start to lose some of that excitement and drive and even find yourself falling into a rut at work. Suddenly things don’t seem so exciting or promising, so does that mean you need to find a new job?

The answer isn’t exactly cut and dry. Feeling more satisfied and happy in the workplace may be possible, and may not require you to change jobs at all. Instead, it may just take some effort on your part. Here’s a look at some of the ways you can start to change how you feel about work, leaving you more satisfied and happy.

Change the Way You Think About Success

One of the first tips in reclaiming joy in the workplace is to change how you think about success. It’s common to assume that once you are successful in the workplace, then you will feel happy, but some argue this thinking is backwards. Instead, it’s about finding happiness first, and then that will lead to success in the workplace.

It’s a huge change in thinking and will take real effort on your part to re-focus and shift how you see things. Reframing your mindset can be incredibly helpful, though, and really change the way you view things in general and not just in the workplace.

Take Control of Your Career Destiny

Sometimes you can start to fall into a rut simply because you feel like you’ve lost control of your career path and future. It may feel like you are working on autopilot and at the mercy of others when it comes to your job. This is a good indicator that it’s time for you to take back the control and start deciding how your future will play out. This means you decide what steps you will take in terms of personal development and professional development.

You can accomplish this by doing such things as enrolling in classes to learn new skills, taking on more difficult work assignments, volunteering to help with projects that may be out of your comfort zone, and just starting to say “yes” to any and all opportunities in general.

Push Out the Negative Thoughts

Here’s a tip that is much easier said than done. Everyone is guilty of having negative thoughts now and then, but some experience this more often than others. Here’s the thing: negative thoughts will really start to chip away at your happiness and therefore your success in the workplace. Now is the time to accept this as a reality and push out those negative thoughts.

It should stretch further than just your own mindset too. It should also involve you stepping away from negative situations such as the workplace gossip session, or negative conversations with co-workers.

Making an effort to change how you feel at work, and the way you approach your job, can have a significant effect on your overall happiness and level of satisfaction.