Are You Satisfied?
In a time where most of us have access to everything we need, it seems like satisfaction is at an all-time low. Whether in our personal or professional lives, we all seek to be stimulated and satisfied. The problem is that a lot of us seek that happiness from external influences or things outside of our control. We complain that we do not have job satisfaction and blame our missteps or present circumstances, and we allow them to dictate our future. In our home life, we may find ourselves feeling blah or unhappy and sometimes blame ourselves for things we’ve done in the past or find anxiety in things that haven’t even happened yet. We waste time “bikeshedding” instead of moving towards a life of value and fulfillment. We’ve all been there whether we want to admit it or not. But in order to find satisfaction, we must first own our responsibility in the outcomes.
Professional Life
Those in leadership positions are ultimately responsible for ensuring an organization is effective. The largest burdens lay with leadership and they are answerable to making the toughest decisions. Leadership also plays a fundamental role in establishing the culture of an organization and is instrumental in creating an environment where employees and teammates can thrive. However, contrary to popular belief, leadership is not responsible for each individuals’ job satisfaction. Leadership sets the environment, but ultimately, finding satisfaction in one’s job is an individual responsibility. Once we own that responsibility, we can move forward. Below are some tips that I have found to be useful when experiencing the trials of our professional lives.
- Focus on what you can control
We cannot control what others do. Feeling entitled to individualized consideration every day is a surefire way to meet disappointment. Great leaders will take the time to inspire, motivate and instill discipline. We don’t all get to work for great leaders all the time. As my brother, W. Scott Greene, stated, “It’s not that life isn’t fair…it’s that life is life.” Stop looking at what you do not have or how others benefit from the things that you don’t. They aren’t you and you aren’t them. Wishing you were is a disabling thought. Get the chip of entitlement off your shoulder. Identify what you can do about your situation to make it better for yourself and those you influence.
- Be Honest with Yourself
Unless you work in the simplest field not yet known to man, most of us work in fields with layers of complexity that have more to master than we have time to learn. So, find your gaps and fill them. Mastering our individual crafts can not only bring a sense of accomplishment and feeling of competence, it also will provide a level of satisfaction most will never experience. And don’t try and master everything at once…just aim to get one percent better every day. Keep it movin’!
- Be proactive
Sometimes we lack job satisfaction because we have, or at least think we have, capabilities and talents that extend beyond what we are assigned. If this is your case, then ask for more! If your boss is too busy to look for more opportunities on your behalf, then seek them out yourself. It doesn’t have to be just the shiny opportunities either. Doing your best at things you want to do is called NORMAL--putting your best effort towards things you don’t necessarily want to do is called CHARACTER. Find ways to help your team. Create more white space for your leaders, teammates and even your subordinates, and do so without wanting anything in return. If you don’t see opportunities to do so in your area of influence, get involved in your community. Much like how we will find things that upset or irritate us if we look for them, we will also find opportunities if we seek them out.
Personal Life
I would argue that even though many of us spend more time engaged in our professional lives than we do in our personal ones, finding satisfaction at home is arguably more important. A person truly satisfied and inspired in their personal lives will make a better teammate, follower, and leader in their professional space. Work-life balance isn’t a thing…harmony is what we should strive for as there are not two separate people within us. Our professional and personal lives are interdependent and have heavy influence on one another. To believe otherwise is naïve. So, what can we do to elevate the satisfaction we have in our personal lives?
- Deliberately Seek Inspiration
No one is obligated to inspire us. It’s great when we are around inspirational people and leaders, but we are not guaranteed nor entitled to their output. We must seek it ourselves, and not just in our duties. As previously mentioned, those who are inspired in life make better teammates and leaders. Find your own inspiration! What are you passionate about? Traveling, being a foodie, pushing your physical limits, art, cooking or photography? Learn and do more of that! In my opinion, the best argument for continual growth is to stay inspired. It’s not just a “good to have”…it’s a must have to be satisfied in life. Keep growing!
- Discover What Matters to You
Doing the deep work to determine what matters to you is easier said than done. As the great Dr. Viktor Frankl stated, we all have “a will to meaning.” You might be able to find this meaning in your faith, in your life’s passions, in continual growth, or a combination of these and everything else in between. Also, this may not be readily apparent to all of us and that is okay. But by asking yourself and reflecting on the simple yet difficult questions of “what matters to me?”, “what do I find joy in?”, “what energizes me?”, and so on and so forth, can help guide us to that meaning. Sometimes, it may even be easier to begin by determining what you don’t like, what you don’t want to do, and what doesn’t matter to you. Which ever method you try as you begin, hopefully you get closer and can align yourself and your efforts towards walking in your purpose.
- Connect
Finally, connecting and fostering strong and healthy relationships is a vital component to finding satisfaction in life. We are all social beings and we are not meant to be isolated. Even if you fancy yourself an introvert or a loner, we all have a need and can find joy in connecting with the people we care about, and with those that care about us. I am not saying you must be a social butterfly, but you make efforts to support and be supported by the people who mean the most to you. Listen with curiosity and without judgement, love selflessly, and give more of yourself than you expect to receive.
Following these simple, but not easy tips, won’t necessarily mean you will live a life of constant joy. We are not wired that way. Life has its ups and downs and in my opinion that is by design. If it were not for the valleys, we could not appreciate the mountain tops. But these concepts can help you find something more sustainable and rewarding--satisfaction and contentment. Remember, satisfaction is not something someone can give to us, it comes from within. But each of us must do the work to find and then sustain it as it will only thrive if we tend to it.
Editor’s Note: Joe Bogdan is the co-founder of Llama Leadership, is an adjunct professor of leadership studies and is a senior enlisted leader in the United States Air Force. He has led various organizations with diverse missions across multiple countries and currently oversees almost 500 people composed of U.S. Military and civilian personnel in Travis Air Force Base, California.