FINDING YOUR VALUE
Have you ever thought, why am I here? We spend a lot of our lifetime at work, so this isn’t an unlikely question to ask ourselves. Somedays are more overwhelming than others, and we may ask ourselves, why do I spend so much time at work. The obvious answer is that we work to pay for our lifestyle, without it we would starve. But looking deeper, why?
Do you love your job, or maybe a better question to ask, do you love working with the company where you are now employed? I would bet that a lot of us would say no. Yes we love our jobs but not so much our employers. One would think that we would be more selective when choosing our employer since we spend most of our life with them. Think about this…our bosses get more of our time than we spend with our families, yet they know so little about us, relative to the amount of time we spend with them. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking this is sad.
Why is this sad? The other day I was looking back at my work career and realized that I didn’t always pick the healthiest work environment for myself or my family. How many times do we bring home the drama of a workday, sharing it with our loved ones at home, too many times to count. I’ve worked for so many toxic employers throughout the years, more so than positive work environments.
However, I remember one of my bosses that was a good employer and he valued me as an employee, friend, and a respected individual. We went to lunch once a week and I remember him saying to me, “Thank you for taking time away from your family to spend your day here working for me.” I was stunned with his candidness and honesty…such pure compassion for me, as his employee. His statement made me think about it more deeply, realizing that our employers need us just as much as we need them. They provide an income to us, subsequently, we provide a service allowing them to generate an income from us. It is not one sided, as I formally believed. It is a mutual relationship. This is the key word; it is a relationship. Would we choose a toxic spouse knowingly? I hope not, so why would we lack the same direction in choosing our work environment, especially when it consumes most of our day, week and life.
His simple act of kindness stayed with me, reigniting throughout my career. Today, now that I am the boss of my own companies, I hope to hold those same boundaries and expectations towards my employees and coworkers. I am a big believer in a healthy work-life balance because of him, my prior wonderful boss. I too believe in the importance of always putting your family first, as well as your own mental wellbeing.
COVID in 2020 was a horrible time, but I can say that something positive that came out of it is how many companies now see the value their employees bring to the workplace by working at home. Not all careers have the capacity to work from home effectively, but for the industries that do, this benefited all of us to show that remote and hybrid work is beneficial and healthy, by showing the value that a healthy work-life balance brings. I heard this great quote on TikTok, “Why do people not want to work anymore? It’s not that we don’t want to work, we don’t want to work for crappy companies anymore who don’t value us. We take pride in our work, but not with employers that don’t respect us.”
Most of us want to work hard and be the best we can be. We just want to be valued, respected and heard. We don’t need to be controlled by being forced to work somewhere that treats us unfairly. Find your perfect work-life balance. Choose your next company wisely. Don’t settle for being treated poorly. Value yourself. Value your career. Prioritize what is important to you. Take control of your life and destiny. Your employer will strive with a well-balanced employee, as much as you will. You are worth it – always value yourself before you value someone else.
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The Jewels' Angels Foundation, Inc. 