Comfortably Miserable
One of my favorite podcasts is Daily Boost. A recent episode was titled Stop Being Comfortably Miserable. I loved the phrase comfortably miserable because it fits so many people that I see. I know people that hate their job or their career and they don't do anything about it. Maybe they don't hate it, but they do not enjoy it or feel fulfilled doing what they spend 40 hours a week or more.
If someone is not happy, why do they keep doing it? For some, it is simply inertia. They have been a plumber or engineer or sale rep so long they don't know anything else. For others it is a fear of the unknown and they see their current job as "safe". They will often use phrases like "better the devil you know" implying that as much as they may dislike their current job, it could be worse somewhere else.
Previous generations had more job security as the common practice was "job for life" and as long as someone kept working they were reasonably certain that they would be able to keep working at the same company. Economic times and business practices have changed and the "job for life" has been replaced with words like layoff, downsizing and restructuring.
I have experienced first hand the lack of stability after getting laid off from a big, stable company. I had great reviews and great feedback from my customers. I enjoyed my job, but it goes to show that inertia can catch us all off-guard. I was comfortable, but not miserable. How much worse would it have been to have spent 5 years in a job where I was miserable and did nothing about it because I thought I had job security?
My goal is to not get too comfortable. I heard a talk where the speaker suggested embracing discomfort and doing the things that make us uncomfortable. This is great advice to prevent being comfortably miserable.
If someone is not happy, why do they keep doing it? For some, it is simply inertia. They have been a plumber or engineer or sale rep so long they don't know anything else. For others it is a fear of the unknown and they see their current job as "safe". They will often use phrases like "better the devil you know" implying that as much as they may dislike their current job, it could be worse somewhere else.
Previous generations had more job security as the common practice was "job for life" and as long as someone kept working they were reasonably certain that they would be able to keep working at the same company. Economic times and business practices have changed and the "job for life" has been replaced with words like layoff, downsizing and restructuring.
I have experienced first hand the lack of stability after getting laid off from a big, stable company. I had great reviews and great feedback from my customers. I enjoyed my job, but it goes to show that inertia can catch us all off-guard. I was comfortable, but not miserable. How much worse would it have been to have spent 5 years in a job where I was miserable and did nothing about it because I thought I had job security?
My goal is to not get too comfortable. I heard a talk where the speaker suggested embracing discomfort and doing the things that make us uncomfortable. This is great advice to prevent being comfortably miserable.
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