The Job Barometer

Um, yes, your job can have a barometer. It should, after all, be evaluated with some degree of objectivity, should it not? And while there are countless factors that go into what makes your job yours, there is also a pretty important Big Question against which to measure our jobs.

And it goes a little something like this, the job barometer does: do you feel energized or exhausted?

I know that we all have days of feeling both – every job, no matter how great or how awful, has its peaks and valleys – but overall, when you think about your job, how do you feel?

How do you feel Monday morning? How about Thursday at about 2 pm?

Yes, first and foremost, everybody likes to feel happy. Feeling drained by what we’re doing make us feel unhappy. And our health, too, is better – stress takes its toll on the body. When you enjoy your job, you feel less stressed by its demands, your physical health benefits. We feel good.

It’s not just about choosing things that make us feel good – obviously we all endure sacrifices in order to realize other things that we want. This isn’t a purely hedonistic message. We benefit in countless ways when we have jobs that uplift rather than drain our spirits.

Beyond simply feeling like a million bucks, we earn ourselves more income. We are more successful when we're in jobs that energize us. We perform better, and we get promoted. Yep. Employers are people too, and, like most people, love to surround themselves with folks who exhibit enthusiasm and energy. When you feel energized naturally at work, and are able to maintain that attitude effortlessly, other people can tell. And they’ll put you in positions where your attitude can have more influence.

So it's not just touchy-feely.  

Seek out a job that energizes you, and you will see countless benefits across the board.