The most efficient, progressive companies are full of innovative, driven employees. Many times, you will find yourself part of that solution. But at certain points in your job, you feel drained. You stop enjoying Mondays, your mood changes. You find yourself less optimistic. You can stare at the computer for hours with nearly zero productivity. You can become your harshest critic.
The simple tasks seem impossible. Depression kicks in, you have hit a crossroad. You can either step up to the plate or risk future success. Every career has ups and downs. The trick is to enjoy the ups, then to get creative and remain resilient and disciplined during the downs. The ups are easy to enjoy. Motivation seems to come easily. But how do you endure the downs in a career? Here are a few ways:
Forget the statement “it can’t be done”
Regardless of hurdles, there are always ways you can do better. The more creative you become in your job, the further you can go. At times it will seem as if you hit a brick wall. Sometimes that wall will appear much more challenging than others. Focus on possible solutions, look at the problem differently. Whatever you do, don’t let the hurdle render you ineffective.
Keep moving forward
Henry Ford said “You have got to keep doing and going.” In business, change is inevitable. Change in yourself becomes just as essential. Some core ideologies are permanent, like great customer service. But how you arrive at superior customer service may drastically change throughout a career. Despite environmental changes in your job, always be in motion. When work seems hopeless, you’re probably also wasting time. There are a few instances in your career when learning and creativity can’t cure the most arduous problems.
Try not to take the downs personally
Stay level-headed. The most effective business professionals make decisions based on logic not emotion. Everyone goes through difficult times at work. Whether it’s having to deal with a bad manager or changes in the industry, few professions are immune to it. In fact the more creative a job is, the more difficulty you can encounter. When you convince yourself to enjoy the journey, you will do better at your job.
You are not alone
Employees go through highly turbulent times in their career. Some come out of their slump with renewed energy and vigor. Other personalize their problems and don’t quite make it. If you look at some of the most effective business tycoon sin US history, you will see one thing in common. They all share some sort of highly complex hurdle they had to overcome. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Andrew Carnegie all saw sufficient career fluctuations. Their resiliency is what proved to be the determining factor between success and failure. They stayed motivated even during time of crisis. They forced themselves to keep moving forward. You can do the same to stay motivated at work.
