There is a wonderful quote from Aristotle that says: “Pleasure in the job puts perfection
in the work.” If you repeat that statement over and over again you begin
to realize the honesty in that statement.
All human beings thrive when they are happy and engaged in something
that brings them pleasure or contentment.
If we are not happy with our job or the environment in which we live,
our depleted attitude is revealed in everything that we do and too often we are
not aware of that fact. According
to an employee satisfaction survey, less than 50 percent of the employees are
satisfied with their job and this goes across the wide spectrum of age groups
from under 25 years old to over 65 years old.
This revelation certainly leads one to believe that most
people are not fulfilled in their life’s work and unfortunately most of those
people perform under the satisfactory level of their employers. I believe I can honestly say therefore
that no one is winning in this scenario and that is unfortunate. Employee satisfaction at work has
decreased significantly over the last twenty years and certainly the weak
economy has dampened people’s motivation and attitudes.
While many people are not satisfied with their jobs or the
quality of their lives, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for many because
they have lost their motivation and therefore are often not engaged. While this is a problem for many
businesses who want their employees to be conscientious and take responsibility
for their work seriously, it most definitely is a two way street. There is no question that the employer
needs to provide an atmosphere that is conducive for its member to thrive, it
is equally important for the individual worker to show up, be present and put
in a full days work for a full days pay.
In my experience with hiring people, I have discovered that
while some are truly and genuinely superb at what they do and take a sincere
interest in the company, many others have only one goal in mind, to get by. It
is usually those individuals who really do not care about their work
sufficiently to perform at their best that we are speaking about. Those are the ones who are unhappy with
life in general and as a result, their job gets in the way of their mindset
which is to get paid and go have fun.
Attitude, attitude, attitude is the driver behind this
entire problem. When people are
happy, their performance is higher so it stands to reason that we need to make
the people happy. Unfortunately
the root of this dilemma is more about asking the question: what will motivate Joe or Sally to have
a positive attitude about not only their work but their lives so they will
function at a higher level of energy and therefore achieve more for themselves
in their lives.
Wow! That is a
huge mouth full but if understood and believed, it would most certainly help
change the culture that has been developing over the last 20 years.
- We
need to place greater attention placed on teaching people how to find the
source of what drives them.
- We
need more resources given to the very young so they can from an early age
develop good habits with their sense of worth, motivation and
self-discipline. This does
not necessarily require more money, but simply a shift in attitudes and
beliefs.
- We need
greater emphases on the word responsibility and how individuals can and
should take greater responsibility over their lives because when they do,
their outcomes improve.
“A man
is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes.”-- Mahatma Gandhi
“The
remarkable thing we have is a choice every day regarding the attitude we will
embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... We cannot change the fact
that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The
only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our
attitude.”-- Charles
R. Swindoll
Joan Marie Ambrose
Author, Creative Writer, Motivational Speaker
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