Change Your Job? Or Change Your Perspective?

The problem with changing jobs in pursuit of happiness is that no job will ever make you happy.

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I’ve been surrounded by people in my life lately–coaching clients, yoga students, friends, and colleagues–that are at a crux in their careers.  They feel stuck, they feel uncertain, they feel like it’s time to move on to a new job or a new career.  But the problem that most of us face when we reach that space is: where do I go next?  And, more importantly, will I be happy when I make the change?

One of my clients, a bright, young Big Law associate, asked me the other day: is it really about changing jobs?  Or is it about changing your perspective?

It’s actually about BOTH.  You can hop from job to job in the hopes that this new one will bring you insane amounts of fulfillment and joy, only to be disappointed when you realize you’re surrounded by the same types of people, wearing the same suits, working on similar legal matters.  That’s what happened to me when I switched law firms (from Riker Danzig to Allen & Overy, from Allen & Overy to Cleary, and from Cleary to Davies Ward). Sure, the work and the hours were slightly different at each firm, and I was able to manage my workload and my schedule with a little more ease and grace as time went on in my career, but for the most part: same job, different walls.

The problem with changing jobs in pursuit of happiness is that no job will ever make you happy.  Sure, you will find some types of work more challenging or more intellectually stimulating or more fun than other types.  You will like working with some folks more than others.  And there may be other factors–like money, the length of your commute, the firm or company’s family leave policy, etc.–that make one job a better fit for you than another would be.

A wise friend once told me that you can change jobs, but you have to switch the way you use the mind, too.  And she’s right: it’s that shift in perspective, it’s that shift in thinking that will help you find joy in what you do, no matter what it is.

In yoga, we practice something called santosha, or “contentment.”  Admittedly, it seems silly to think about “contentment” as something that you practice–in our society, contentment and joy and happiness traditionally are seen as only coming from external, shiny objects (money, status, nice things, fame).  Practicing santosha allows you to tap into inner joy so that you’re not depending on the external world to make you happy.

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Think about the last time you laughed–truly laughed–from the pit of your belly without any self-consciousness, analysis, or thought. Something spontaneous happens and you are just overcome with laughter and joy. Sure, a split second later, your mind kicks in and analyzes why the situation was so funny and spends time committing that moment to memory, but for that tiny moment of time, immeasurable by our minds, pure joy poured out of you without any thought involved whatsoever. Santosha is a gateway to that inner joy.

Just like showing up to a yoga class and trying new and difficult poses, santosha takes some practice. One way to practice contentment is by eliminating negativity in your life.

Another way is by starting a gratitude jar.  Rather than focus on all the stuff you don’t like about your current job, each day write down on a slip of paper ONE THING that you’re grateful for about your job, fold it up, and place it in the jar (and try to write down a new thing every day). On days when you’re feeling really down or frustrated, dump out the jar, read your notes, and remind yourself of what it feels like to be grateful for the job that is in front of you.

Or you can try keeping a journal–one in which for each negative thing you write down about your job, you write down three positive things to remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing.

These practices are just the beginning; they’ll help you shift the way you see your job and your life.  And maybe you still change jobs to find one that’s a better fit for you.  A change in jobs might do you good, for sure, but a shift in perspective–to one of gratitude and contentment–can brighten up any career.

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Megan Grandinetti is an attorney, health coach, and yoga teacher.  Megan’s work as a health coach focuses on improving the health and wellness of lawyers and other busy professionals. Find out more about Megan by visiting www.thelawyershealthcoach.com or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/healthcoachmegnyc.