Most workers don’t realize that they have a relationship with their jobs. In fact, for most people, the words “job” and “relationship” are not featured together as part of their vocabulary. We usually associate relationships with people, family, and friends. However, we do have relationships with everything, including money, physical things and even our jobs.
In essence, relationships are about how two or more concepts, objects or people are connected together or are in the state of being connected.
How can we maintain a healthy connection/relationship with our jobs so that it will give us the job and income security? What can we do to improve our relationship with our jobs so that we can have the joy and freedom in what we are doing?
It is, without a doubt, that we spend a large part of our lives working in jobs. Therefore, it is vital for us to consciously think about cultivating a positive and healthy relationship with them, and the way we earn our salary or wages. Like all relationships, it’s only through love and commitment that we can improve ourselves and our relationship with our jobs, and the money we earn from working them.
Unfortunately, many people have an unhealthy relationship with their jobs.
Sometimes it’s not their fault. They may have been taught to think about their jobs in unhealthy or unhelpful ways since childhood. Their parents or grandparents may have communicated some negativity about their own jobs.
They may have bad experiences around their jobs, like being passed over for a job promotion, being caught up with office politics. Or maybe they have suffered in the hands of ruthless or inconsiderate managers, experienced retrenchments, and layoffs, or just being forced into retirement.
People may carry around these bad feelings and experiences throughout their lives. They also tend to “infect” others with their negativity. As a result, instead of inheriting positive and constructive attitudes, feelings, and beliefs about our jobs from our family members and friends, we may have inherited unhealthy and negative perceptions that are being carried throughout our own working life.
