I recently worked my way through a practical and funny guide to falling in love with your job again. The Joy of Work, 30 Ways to Fix Your Work Culture and Fall In Love With Your Job Again, by Bruce Daisley was published in 2019 and became a No 1 Sunday Times Business Bestseller. The book jumped out from the shelves of a second-hand book shop – it caught me eye precisely because I felt that I needed more joy in my work.
Today, nine years ago, I started Foundation Family Wealth with a dream. That dream included how I would feel about my job and what kind of environment I wanted to create for other people to work in and for our clients to be served by. I noted how I wanted to feel – inspired, peaceful, full of purpose and joy. And for 8 years I can honestly say that that was largely how I felt. Admittedly, last year, that was not how I felt. 2020 was one of the most stressful times of my career. And despite understanding why that was so, it is not how I want to continue. It is not sustainable for myself or anyone. I’m sure that many of you will relate.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and I love what we have created at Foundation Family Wealth. But the endless compliance, communication and drastic change experienced in 2020 would drain even the most enthusiastic person of all joy. There comes a time when you need a different perspective; when you need to reshuffle your plate and re-organise how things are done to spark the joy again. Seeing that disruption is here to stay, whether through the pandemic or any of the other forces at play, we should not treat last year as an aberration but rather focus on how we can prevent stress from stealing our joy.
The Joy of Work gave me some fresh ideas to implement; all tried and tested by some of the greatest companies in the world. It inspired me to again pursue my belief that it is possible to #lovewhereyouwork. Creating a place where people feel safe to be themselves, to air their views, to do their best work autonomously and to become masters in their skill all while making an impact, is not only a good thing to do, it is the best thing to do. For everyone involved. It is the caring thing to do and I believe, the most profitable course of action in the long-term.
I hope that you too pursue #lovewhereyouwork. Working under continuous stress with little joy, year in and year out is a bad idea for your health and your money. In the long term, you will pay for it. Not even the best paying job is worth it. Find a place or a job where you can say #lovewhereyouwork. Find out what will give you joy and pursue it.
Ps. #lovewhereyouwork was started by one of Twitter’s employees who was dying of cancer. It is still in use. The last chapter of The Joy of Work shared her story.