Happy December everyone (and nearly Happy Christmas)! I hope that you are all looking forward to Christmas and have as many plans as I do for this Christmas period. I have a lot to look forward to: shortly I will be publishing my latest book; I will be spending Christmas with friends and family; then as we move into the New Year; I will finalise my move to Bristol and start my new job in Bath.
Today what I wanted to focus on is work and the idea that you should enjoy what you do. Don’t get me wrong: as I said in my previous blog, it is important to relax and take time out but I am not of the belief that work should be a nine-five chore and just a means to pay the bills.
Around the age of 16, (10 years ago now!), I had entered the Sixth Form, having changed schools to do so. This required me to take on a part time job which I knew wouldn’t necessarily be fun but was necessary. I also did this same job in the summer between university terms. I found that some of the time was spent clock watching, which made me realise that I wanted to pursue a career which I really enjoyed and which would not make me fall into this habit again.
There are of course challenges in my current line of work project management but the fun of overcoming those challenges is great; it gives you a real sense of achievement. Having continual goals or objectives at work really keeps you entertained and inspired to challenge yourself. Time certainly does fly too.
You are also going to be in work from at least the age of 16 to potentially your sixties (depending on your career path) so why make those fifty odd years or so a struggle to just pay the bills? You will find that you will have a better quality of life when you are inspired to get up, go to work and achieve something. Seeing Monday as a “Oh no, here we go again” is not, I believe, giving you a good quality of life. If you see your week like this, you need to change career or to further your potential in different ways; yes, of course, that will take effort.
Likewise with writing: I set myself achievable goals each day (for example, today drafting this blog) rather than thinking “Oh no, I have to write an entire chapter today”. I’m inspired to do little by little each day and to persevere, because it’s something I want to do. So why choose a hobby or job you don’t enjoy?
I’ll leave you all to think about this but as usual, please contact me if you have any questions at all. I will write my next blog in 2018! For now have a fantastic Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Jonny Pardoe
Jonny Pardoe © December 2017
Photo by Kornél Máhl on Unsplash
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Jonny Pardoe
