Tuesday Truth: The Importance of Being Challenged at Work

Above: My little brother, Patrick, working on his Solar Panel Grant Project in Peru (where he's stationed for Peace Corps).

At some point in life, we've all worked those jobs that were just that--jobs.

We did them purely for the money, or for the fact that we needed to be doing something, but weren't sure what to do yet (or couldn't find anything else)--or we did them because our parents said we needed to get a job (Did anyone else work at Mo-Joe's Buffalo Style Wings in 9th grade? Anyone?). 

Maybe you've worked a job like this in the past, or maybe you're working a job like this right now, but the thing about jobs like this is that they're just 100% plain work. And often, they're not that exciting. 

Or perhaps you do have a job that you would consider more of a "career," or a job that is in line with what you want to do/think you should be doing, but you're still not excited about going to work or doing your work. Maybe you even dread it.

I've been there, as well. 

But no matter where you are with your job or your career today, here's my question for you: Are you being challenged at work? 

If not, it may be time to shake things up a bit. "Shake things up" doesn't necessarily mean quit your job and follow your passions (although that is one option!), but it might mean that you need to talk to your supervisor about a promotion, or a lateral change, or about taking on a new area of responsibility that will teach you something new and keep you a bit more on your toes.

Because if there's one thing I've learned through my various job transitions over the past 7 years or so, it's that being challenged is key to enjoying your day-to-day life and finding purpose in how you spend your time.

When I talk about challenge here, I'm not taking about being so overwhelmed at work that you're losing your mind. Similarly, I'm not talking about being way in over your head or just super busy with grunt work or having a full workload--I'm talking about being mentally stimulated by the actual work that you're doing on a day-to-day basis.

Are you challenged by the report you have to write? Do you have to research and dig deep to come up with a fresh, new marketing idea for your new client? Do you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone regularly in order to do your job well? 

If so, that's what I mean.

If not, maybe it's time to ponder what you can do to make sure this happens in the future.

I've been thinking a lot about being challenged at work lately. My work has been challenging to me over the past couple of months, simply because I have been getting so many new requests that are all over the place (in a very good way). I've had new consulting clients that have shaken things up for me. I've had some challenging commissions that are out of my normal comfort zone. And teaching yoga is always a challenge, simply because every class is so different and you never know what you're going to get (especially on the Cape in the summer!!!). 

I've  also been watching Ben as he is continually challenged at his new job, where he's doing something different almost every single day and where he has to work really hard and put himself out there; The satisfaction that he's been getting from this change has been great to see.  

We blossom when we're challenged. We grow. We get frustrated and yes, even stressed, but in the end, it was worth it. Not every situation is like that. 

How we choose to spend our time "working" is up to us. The average person spends at least 30% of their time working, or approx. 90,000 hours over the course of a lifetime.

Do you want to spend those 90,000 hours being bored, overwhelmed, or frustrated, or do you want to spend them being challenged, so that you learn and develop as a person?

I think you know the answer. And I hope you can make some shifts in your life to find a little more challenge and a little less yuck in this 30% slice of your time pie. 

I'll leave you with this thought, from Steve Maraboli:

“When you do what you love, the seemingly impossible becomes simply challenging, the laborious becomes purposeful resistance, the difficult loses its edge and is trampled by your progress.” 

YES!!! Lets trample the difficult with our progress, shall we?