How Your Good Job Is Killing You

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Jessica Sweet LICSW, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

Do you have a good job? You know, one that pays well and has benefits including a health plan and sick days?

Well that good job might just be killing you.

When I was a kid, I remember getting up one morning to go to school feeling like I was slowed down by 1000 pounds of chains. It took me forever to get out of bed and I wondered, “Is my throat slightly scratchy?” Then I painstakingly chose my clothes and thought, “Gee, I really should have gone to bed earlier. . . I definitely didn’t get enough sleep.”

I continued to create a mental pile of reason after reason why I shouldn’t go to school that day. Not enough energy. Headache. Sore throat. Sleepy. On and on it went, until my mother called upstairs.

“No school today, kids! Too much snow!”

Miraculously, at those words, all of my ailments disappeared! I had never seen anything like it.

In place of my maladies, I suddenly had incredible energy, amazing vitality, and perfect health!

Now, you may have ailments much more serious than mine were, but the same principles may apply.

How much is doing a job you feel bored by and disconnected from affecting how you feel day to day?

Is it possible that living with a job you really dislike, and by extension ignoring real and powerful parts of who you are and what you have to offer, is having an impact on any real health issues you are experiencing?

It is true that what we think about not only affects our attitude, but also can impact our bodies and the world around us. And not (only) in some hocus-pocus ways. Just as the impact of meditation by monks or group prayer have been scientifically measured, what you feed your brain every day to think about can change your body.

Of course, there are always other factors that contribute to health problems. But if you imagine that you would feel like a ton of bricks was lifted from your shoulders at the thought of never having to go to your “good” job again, then my guess is that your job really is impacting your health.

The good news is, just as my school-aged self learned, there is a way through this. Luckily, my illnesses weren’t too advanced. But even if you’re struggling with problems far more real than mine, the prescription is the same.

What the doctor orders is hope.

Your prescription is to start doing what you need to do to create hope that you’re not doomed to this life of boredom and frustration forever. Or at least for the next 30 or so years.

Despite the paycheck that allows you a decent lifestyle and the benefits that take care of your future, if you’re not happy and healthy now, you may have to re-evaluate.

Here are some tips for infusing a little more hope into your life right now:

1. Create a 5 year plan: Whether it’s five years or ten, or even just one (pretty please), creating a plan to extricate yourself from your deadly job can create real hope in your life today.

2. Do what you love, NOW: Even if you’re still getting up and going to work every day, if you know there’s time (on the weekend, in the evening) to do a little bit of what you love, it can give you hope for today.

3. Stay connected to inspiration: Losing hope means, well, we’ve lost hope. And staying connected to any tiny spark of inspiration becomes a life line. Work to cultivate your ability to get yourself into an inspired state and stay there. You may find that reading uplifting stories of others who are living their passion helps, or maybe looking at photos that remind you of the beauty in the world. Whatever it is for you, practice getting and staying inspired.

4. Get unstuck: Maybe you’ve been doing what you’re doing in your career for so long that you can’t even imagine what you’d like better. If that’s true, you can gain clarity by working with me, spending some time soul searching, researching, or taking a much needed break.

5. Roll out something BIG: Many of my clients realize that what they really want to do is start a passion-based business. They have something they love to do, an idea to share with the world, or some awesome idea that the world just shouldn’t be without. Having that big vision, and creating the structures to bring it to life lifts them out of the doldrums of today and onto their big vision. This can work for you too.

No matter what your bank account may say, the cost of staying in your current situation may just be too high. If that’s the case, decide to play with the possibility of something being different without making an absolute commitment. You may be surprised at what is achievable for you.