I was chatting to a friend the other day about her job – which she tells me ‘pays the bills but bores her silly and makes her feel her life is meaningless’. But she is grateful. When I asked her what she was going to do about it she was inclined to do nothing because she didn’t want to be seen as ungrateful or irresponsible. And it got me thinking….

I understand the gratefulness at this point in time especially, but not the ‘irresponsibility’ and here’s why…

Auto-pilot is more irresponsible

My first thought was that it is never irresponsible to think about anything to do with your life and how to make the best life possible for yourself and for your family. In fact, I would say it is irresponsible to go through life on autopilot never actively thinking about who you are and how you can contribute to the world or, on a smaller scale, to your family.

Secondly, this COVID time will pass way more quickly than the amount of time you still have in your lifetime that you will be working. We are already talking about 100-year lives and the need (and even the desire) to work well into our eighties.

 And lastly, I felt both a little frustrated and a lot concerned about a way of life many people perpetuate when they don’t understand the power they have to shape their lives.

Snap out of it

If this sounds a bit like where your head has been going this last few weeks then can I encourage you (in the nicest possible way) to ‘snap out of it’.

No, I am not saying leave your job now and put yourself at financial or personal risk.

Thinking won’t do that though.

You have within you the power to create a life you love for you and your family as does every other person. And at the moment – you have a lot more thinking time. Possibly a lot more than you’ve ever given yourself in your normally busy life. So, if you are tired of feeling like you feel about your work – do the thinking now before the busyness of work (and a million other excuses) gets in the way again.

Where to start

You may be wondering where to start. This is easy. Get in touch with who you are and what you want out of life (and work). Consider the cost to your life, your health, your relationships of doing nothing.