Not sure how this one got past me, but I listened to the 8th Habit yesterday by Stephen Covey. Before scouting/shopping for boho stuff to add to my Etsy site I went to the library to find a play-away to listen to when I ran across the 8th Habit. It was written 10 years ago, but is relevant today.
Covey talked about moving from the Industrial Age to the Knowledge Age and how Knowledge Age workers will not be satisfied with the old ways they were “managed” – like things. Knowledge workers would be looking for “meaning and purpose”.
The main idea was that people would need to “find their voice” and help others to find their voice.Wow, that concept resonated with me.
I was most intrigued about the PAIN that he said Knowledge Workers would start to face. It is the PAIN that I read about everyday in the “Just Quit” survey. Some days the entries are worse than others. It seems that June 16th was a particularly bad day. Below are the entries that came in:
I’m not a good fit for corporate culture, I’m not in position to truly impact change, and I’m tired of the politics game (I just don’t play it well). I want to do something that means something more than impact the bottom line or make my boss happy.
Tuesday, Jun 16th 10:33PM
its making me miserable..
Tuesday, Jun 16th 6:07PM
I get treated horribly, hurt, Be littled, treated like crap, work all the time, go unheard, be harassed,paid little, stressed to the max, unhappy and suicidal
Tuesday, Jun 16th 12:32PM
I am tired and fed up. I feel like working here is draining me physically, as well as creatively and this is extremely important to me. It is sucking the life out of me.
Tuesday, Jun 16th 8:19AM
A high level of unhappiness
Tuesday, Jun 16th 7:40AM
I’m suicidal.
Tuesday, Jun 16th 2:38AM
Workers are fed-up all over the world. More than fed-up – suicidal. Something is dreadfully wrong.
When I listened to Covey’s 8th Habit it was like a siren going off. Over the past year after blogging the book I’ve been contemplating what to do NEXT about this issue and WHY I can’t find anyone trying to solve this problem. Now, today, I realize that maybe MY voice is to GIVE voice to the PAIN that is happening all over the world.
In all honestly I’ve been hoping, wishing and praying that SOMEONE would do something, but it’s been TWELVE YEARS since I Just Quit and FOUR YEARS of blogging about it and still I don’t see much help out there for folks. I see a bunch of coaches, self-help books, seminars, retreats and stuff for companies BUT I don’t think those approaches are working for the everyday person struggling to make it through this.
So, my next project is to give it voice, my voice. It’s not like people who find my blog and fill out the survey can tell anyone that they are in so much pain…pain, even to the point of suicide. Which is part of the pain…the loneliness…the suffering in silence…the “no one understands what I’m going through” feeling. BUT…there is a community of people who do understand. Almost 6,000 people have felt the need to complete the survey. 6,000 people from 106 countries.
If you’ve read this far and you are suicidal about your job, just know that you will make it through this madness. You will survive this. You will not kill yourself because of how you’re being treated at work or how much you hate your job. I don’t type that lightly because I know how serious this is BUT there is hope. You are not a victim. You have the power of choice. You are strong enough to get through this and find your voice or your place in this world. You are. Have Hope. Have Faith. Believe. Even if you have to go day-by-day; hour-by-hour; or minute-by-minute to survive then that is what you need to do.
DO NOT GIVE UP.
P.S.
There is no time like the present. It’s now 7 p.m. and after going to buy a microphone from Best Buy and finding the software I needed I created my first podcast so I can give VOICE to the issue of chronic job stress for today’s workers. In addition to blogging I’ll start sharing some of the weekly survey entries. Join me on Sunday afternoons. Don’t worry I hope to get better as time goes on and I hope to help those who find my site. Cheers! Ridea
Today, whatever day you find this post and read it – DECIDE to be happy — just try it for a day.
Don’t worry about why you aren’t happy, can’t be happy, shouldn’t be happy — just “pretend” like you ARE happy.
Half of the battle of “being” happy is being okay with who you are right here and now and knowing that you are working towards finding your place in the world. You might not be where you want to be, but just be where you are.
Just for today, forget about being miserable in your job. Forget about needing more money. Forget about all those things you want and don’t have…just…
Daily I read the Just Quit survey results. Daily there are people all of the world responding and looking for hope, looking for a way out of their stressful work situations.
As I look at the reasons people want to just quit there are many “individual” reasons. This week we had 40 entries…40 folks who want to quit because of management, bullying, stress, coworkers, unprofessionalism, the culture, terrible bosses, etc.
As I look for a common denominator it is PEOPLE. Not just PEOPLE, but PEOPLE who don’t value other PEOPLE. PEOPLE who are not compassionate, don’t show empathy, are striving for power, money and prestige — at the expense of other PEOPLE.
It doesn’t seem to matter the job, profession or industry. This week’s list of professions is at the end of this post. It has occurred to me that you can’t escape the fact that you have to work with other people. They could be your boss, co-workers, team members or customers.
You can’t MAKE people act the way you want them to. You can’t make people respect you. You can’t control them, but you can control yourself. You can control your own emotions. You can control how you think and treat other people.
I have an idea of what might work. Show compassion to everyone you meet at work this week – even your boss – even the customers who get on your nerves or your co-workers. Do this everyday and all day this week. Just look at people and KNOW that they are suffering. You may never know WHY they are suffering, but still show compassion and wish for them happiness. Just send happiness their way in your thoughts.
I know this sounds weak and soft but there is something very powerful about doing that (while you yourself are suffering; maybe even depressed). Suppose EVERYONE who reads this post does this at work this week? Collectively we can change the working world one place at a time.
So instead of focusing on being depressed, stressed, unhappy, and unfulfilled just show compassion to others this entire week – even those people you think are a jerk and/or you see as a part of the problem where you work…just try it. Tweet me @Ridea or email me and let me know how it goes.
Physiotherapy
Today, 8:23PM
Associate brand manager
Today, 7:13PM
Bookkeeper
Today, 4:04PM
IT Contractor
Today, 3:03PM
Administration
Today, 12:07PM
Banking
Today, 12:06PM
mental health counselor
Today, 8:09AM
Team Leader
Today, 5:00AM
administration
Today, 2:12AM
civil engineering
Yesterday, 6:44PM
banking
Yesterday, 6:29PM
Retail-support team pricing and signing captain
Yesterday, 9:58AM
Retail
Yesterday, 8:36AM
Finance
Friday, May 29th 6:32PM
Human resources
Friday, May 29th 4:43PM
Network administrator
Friday, May 29th 4:41PM
Adult Education, coordinator
Friday, May 29th 1:16PM
merchandiser
Friday, May 29th 12:41PM
Youth and program development
Friday, May 29th 1:00AM
Youth Direct Care
Friday, May 29th 12:28AM
Marketing Campaign Manager
Thursday, May 28th 11:24PM
warehouse forklift operater
Thursday, May 28th 10:00PM
retail
Thursday, May 28th 4:05PM
programmer analyst
Thursday, May 28th 3:21PM
management
Thursday, May 28th 2:35PM
managing an ice arena
Thursday, May 28th 11:22AM
managing an ice arena
Thursday, May 28th 11:03AM
legal
Thursday, May 28th 5:42AM
PR
Thursday, May 28th 1:33AM
director of operations in trucking industry and truck driver
Wednesday, May 27th 9:06PM
director of operations in trucking industry and truck driver
I recently added a question to the survey. Originally I did not want to be too intrusive, but was curious what people did/where they worked. At the very end of this blog post are some of the answers to that question.
As I move back to “really” blogging and not just reviewing the book by blogging the daily entries it has occurred to me that creating art is meaningful labor to me. It is art show season so for the next 4-5 months my weekends will be filled with either creating art or setting up at art shows. The last couple of weekends I’ve been setting up at art shows and selling pieces. Here is a picture of one weekend at the Kannapolis Kaleidoscope festival with my sister Sharon. I consider her a true artist. She was painting murals on our bedroom walls when she was in high school. Now that she’s retired she back to art again and the world is a better place because of it.
At the Kaleidoscope Art Festival in Kannapolis NC
This was our first show together but it won’t be our last (God willing). I look at this picture and I can hear my dad say: “One day you two will be like two peas in a pod.” He said that as we were going through a family tragedy of losing everything in a house fire and being determined to outlast the delay’s of the insurance company as they used all of their delay tactics to “try to wait until my father died” as one of the firefighters told us they were doing. I just look at this picture and I think about my dad and him knowing what happens as one enters middle-age and the later years of life. You realize that your family or what’s left of it is what matters most.
Another weekend in May I set up at NoDa Day in Charlotte. I was painting some lightbulbs at this show and some kids started coming up and wanted to paint rocks. I coached them through what they could paint on their rocks. The little girl below came up and she knew what she wanted to paint. She painted: “Love” but she added “is worth it.” LOVE IS WORTH IT. That almost brought me to tears because at the end of the day Love is all that is worth it.
So, now as I prepare for several upcoming art shows I have to dedicate myself to the art table so I will have pieces to sell. This weekend I started on the below pieces:
Sometimes when I do this (know that it’s a weekend dedicated to creating, painting, art, etc.) I feel like I’m working on my master’s degree again.
I’m listening to the birds chirp, my neighbors enjoying the pool, people coming and going, doing yard work, etc. while I watch from the window at the art table.
I think finding what you love is a large part of answering the question – What do you do? Good grief it’s not a job title. I’ve had count – 19 jobs – several different job titles, levels, industries, types of organizations and answering “What do you do?” just can’t be boiled down to a job title, profession or even a business that you own.
It’s larger than that, at least that is what I hope for my life. I watch others as they get caught up in job titles and positions and remember when I was there. It’s almost like watching people caught up in “racing off to a church building” to look for God and remembering when I was there too. I get it. I really do. I just have come to believe that life is bigger than the obvious and the easy.
Hope, Compassion and OM are my words for meditation and study for 2015. It’s been a journey so far this year. All I can do is:
Hope when I open my eyes every morning I jump out of bed and am ready to enjoy having one more day to live verses hoping that I can just survive the things that will happen on that day.
Hope that all of this blogging, art, Etsy, 19 jobs, 10 years (and counting) sabbatical from my “real life”waiting for me in VA will all add up to a meaningful legacy I can leave my granddaughter. That’s my BIGGEST hope.
Below is how people answered the question: What do you do? So as you can see it’s all over the board from professionals to entry-level. It doesn’t matter what you do, where you currently work, how much you make, if you were recently promoted, etc. YOU can still be miserable doing that thing, but there is always HOPE. HOPE you will find your life’s work. Hold on to HOPE today. Just Hold on to HOPE.
What do you do? Job Title/Industry/Field
Date/Time
software developer
Today, 8:02AM
Sales Manager
Today, 7:45AM
Admin executive in government training field
Today, 5:41AM
Supervisor at a bookstore
Yesterday, 11:19AM
fashion designer
Yesterday, 6:27AM
brand manager
Friday, May 15th 10:41PM
Medical Field
Friday, May 15th 7:20PM
Banking
Friday, May 15th 1:19PM
Films
Friday, May 15th 7:38AM
Retail District Manager
Friday, May 15th 6:59AM
Billing
Friday, May 15th 5:45AM
Welder
Thursday, May 14th 9:44PM
Registered Nurse
Thursday, May 14th 5:09PM
Teacher
Thursday, May 14th 4:23PM
Design Consultant Assistant
Thursday, May 14th 2:27PM
Copywriter
Thursday, May 14th 11:04AM
Marketing, PR, writing, publishing – but I’m not doing that now
After six months of writing the book and one year of blogging the book below is what I learned:
You can do anything you set your mind to do.
Making a commitment and fulfilling it no matter if it is only to yourself requires determination and grit.
Having a cause that you care about in this world gives your life meaning.
Helping other people is what living a good life is really all about.
Don’t expect everybody to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
Continue to stay the course no matter how much it appears that nothing is happening.
Taking on the suffering of others (showing compassion) is not a burden but an honor.
Using Twitter has real possibilities for meaningful connections with others around the world.
You don’t make much money selling e-books or hard cover books for that matter, even if you sell alot of books!
So, now I keep going. The work is not done. It is not finished. People worldwide are still suffering in jobs that make them miserable and depressed.
I’ll go back to blogging weekly from here on out.
Please know that if you discovered this blog – you are not crazy and you are not alone. There are many other kindred spirits around the world who are miserable in their jobs and are contemplating “just quitting”.
Today, starting today, while you are still working your job do the things you KNOW you want to do.
If it is to write graphic novels: write one line of a graphic novel.
If it is writing scripts: write one line for a new script.
If it is to paint portraits: start painting a portrait.
Today START moving towards what your heart, mind and soul is telling you that you were born to do. START TODAY, even while you are still working at your job (that you want or need to quit).
I dunno how to do my job. I have been thinking of quitting since a month ago. I feel many things are going wrong and I have no idea how to solve them. My memory really sucks.
Knowledge Age workers will not be satisfied with the old ways they were “managed” – like things. Knowledge workers would be looking for “meaning and purpose”. 
