Top 10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Find Out How Satisfied You Are With Your Job
Author: Helen Y. Chen

How happy you are depends on how good you feel about yourself. When your unique strengths and abilities are developed and expressed through your life's work, you radiate with confidence. You even look more attractive!

Your work takes up a big chunk of your life. When you are unhappy at work, it affects not only how you feel about yourself but how you relate to those who are close to you, as well as people in general. It can also negatively affect your health.

Being able to work is a true gift from God. Work gives us a chance to establish our uniqueness in the world. Have you ever thought that the world wouldn’t be the same without you? Some may think that to think this way is prideful, lacking humility. That simply is not the case.

We are each unique, created uniquely for God’s purpose. God has purposed that work be a means by which to express our uniqueness and to contribute to the lives around us.

If you are investing forty miserable hours each week on a job or in a business that you do not enjoy, a few hours here and there attending motivational seminars, going to church or listening to personal development tapes will not remedy the situation. You may get temporary relief along with the hope that things will get better; however, the feeling of being unfulfilled and dissatisfied will come back.

Answer the following questions to evaluate how satisfied you are with your job. Don't worry! If you discover that you are not satisfied with your job, I will not suggest that you quit your job right away.

Many times, all that is needed is a few adjustments. However, if you discover that you are very dissatisfied and unhappy with your job, it may be time to begin planning for a career that will bring you long-term satisfaction, sustainable joy and happiness.

Question 1: Do you know if your current job is helping you to attain your long-term goal?

Few college students intend to work their entire lives at fast food restaurants. They can see that their current jobs are helping them to attain their long-term goal.

A client of mine was very dissatisfied with her job. She felt trapped in a corporate environment while her heart longed to have a business of her own. She wanted to jump out of the corporate world so badly, yet didn't feel ready to start her own business. After we worked through a few issues, she was able to see that her present job afforded opportunities to sharpen the skills she would need to run her own business.

Her attitude going about her job changed completely.

One day, she exclaimed to me, "I can't believe I am getting paid to learn all these skills!"

After a few months, she now feels ready to start her own business. Toward that goal, she is working her timeline for the Grand Opening of her business.

Your case may be similar to hers. Or, your situation may be very different. Regardless, you want to get to the place where you can be clear in your own mind why you have chosen your present job or place you desire to work.

Question 2: Are your strengths, talents and unique skills being developed?

Many successful and prosperous people that I have met focus on expressing their unique strengths, talents and skills.

Is your job a good match for you? Are you able to express your unique strengths, talents and skills? Are you appreciated for these gifts that flow naturally from you?

I am not suggesting that you will not encounter challenges; however, even when the challenges come, you should be able to see that you have special grace not only to take them on but grow through them.

Question 3: Are you working just to pay your bills and have fun –or, are you truly expressing a contribution to life and to your work?

Prominent achievers don't work to pay their bills and just to have fun. They match their strengths with those that need them. They go the extra mile to contribute to those that cross their path as well as to the projects that have been entrusted to them.

Question 4: Do you have a clear conscience about what you are doing now?

I remember a very talented marketer leaving his position at a well-known cigarette manufacturer. He liked what he was doing. However, he couldn't have a clear conscience and feel proud of what he did for a living. He didn’t feel good about himself.

It is important that the environment into which you sow your talents is one that makes you feel good and able to share with people without having concerns.

Question 5: Are you solving problems about which you truly care?

No matter what the nature of your job, you are, in some ways, solving problems.

Do you care about the problems that you solve? If you are just getting by with mediocre offerings but not striving for excellence, you probably have taken on the wrong job.

Consider doing something about which you really care. It will be a blessing for your life and for the lives of those you work for and with.

What are problems about which you truly care?

Pay greater attention to your favorite topic of conversation, favorite books and magazines. What do you enjoy talking about the most? What bothers you the most? What do you wish you could change? For what topic does your mind constantly come up with solutions to change the situation?

Question 6: How much income do you feel that you need and are you moving toward reaching that goal?

Each of us has different financial needs.

There is nothing wrong in the fact that some need more than others. There is no right or wrong in the amount that we feel satisfied to attain. The most important thing is that you are using your strengths to move towards your dream work, giving your best, feeling good, blessing those around you and attaining your goal while growing to be a better person.

Question 7: Do you believe in the value of the service and products that your company delivers?

Never work for a company that you do not believe in the value of the service and products that it delivers.

Someone I coach admitted to me that he had no confidence in the services that he was delivering and promoting. As result of these beliefs, he experienced very little success. He left that job and went to work with a company he could honestly support. As he began experiencing greater satisfaction and fulfillment at work, he gained confidence and became a more attractive person.

Question 8: Does your job provide you with the environment that you most enjoy?

Many extroverts are most productive working around many people. They feed on the energy of the many people. However, introverts often prefer to work in solitude. For them, inspiration, ideas and productivity come when they are alone.

Perhaps, you have a good mixture of both. In that case, you just need to be more aware of what kind of combination brings out the best in you. Survey your environmental needs that are required to be productive. Now, see if your work provides you with that.

I have a client who doesn't “get enough” through work. But, he is able to get it outside of work. The combination provides him with a good balance. And, that is okay too. But, if your work environment drains you to the point that, regardless of your efforts, you cannot a balance, it is time to think about change for a more fulfilling life.

Question 9: Does your job give you the kind of family and personal life you want?

A single person schedules his life differently than a married person with three children or a divorced mother with an infant.

The job that is right for you should provide adequate time for your self-care and for sharing quality time with those you love. Do you feel like you spend too much at work? Have you tried to set boundaries, leaving work at a reasonable time but things still aren't working out? Do you constantly feel guilty for not spending enough time with your love ones?

You may be looking at a blinking warning light. Pay attention to this and start thinking about taking steps to change the situation.

Questions 10: Do you enjoy the people that you come in contact with through your job?

Colleagues, clients, superiors and networks. Are most people that you come in contact with pleasant? Or, are most of the people you have to interact with energy drainers? Are you enjoying the people with whom you must be in contact? It is important that you do.






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Are you not satisfied with your job? Do you often feel that there is more to your life than working at your current job? Are you a "corporate refugee” who wishes to discover within yourself the courage to start your own business? Helen Chen is a Business Development and Life Coach who can help you identify the areas of your life that need to be changed to bring greater fun, fulfillment and satisfaction to your work-life. She will help you design and implement your career transition plan. Change for BETTER LIFE can be much FASTER than you imagine. Sign up for her FREE E-zine, "Winning at What Matters," at http://www.HYCCoaching.com.

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