10 Inspiring Thoughts on Loving Your Job 

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, love is in the air. Magically, people become preoccupied with love—love to your spouse, your children, your mom, your grandma—but, what about loving your job? Do you love the work you do? Do you want to see it every morning? If you don’t love your job, maybe you aren’t seeing it for what it really is, or maybe you need inspiration to end your current relationship with your job and start looking for a new one. Either way, these men and women offer excellent insights.

It’s Your Life, Love It

“It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.” – Mae Jemison

What does the life you want to live look like? When was the last time you even considered that? It’s very easy to become so caught up in working, doing and trying to get ahead, that you forget to check in occasionally to make sure that which you are working on is really your best life’s work.

 Search Your Heart

“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.” – Rumi

Make time to soul-search. What do you love? What do you value? If you value time everyday in nature, will you ever be happy sitting at a desk 50 hours a week, or will that type of career translate to a slow and painful death of your soul? As in any relationship, honesty is the best policy. Be honest with yourself. Break up with your job if you need to.

Find Your Passion

“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

Once you determine what your heart desires at work, cull the job “dating” websites to see what is available that meets your criteria. If you desire a job that offers mystery, intrigue, and romance; do not settle for predictable, lackluster or boring.

Become a Pleasure Seeker

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle

It’s okay to admit that you want your relationship with work to be pleasurable. Bear in mind, however, you might be overlooking the pleasureable aspects of your job. Did you choose this job because you would have flexability to work from home? Do you make use of that privlege?

Maintain Balance

“A career is wonderful, but you can’t curl up with it on a cold night.” – Marilyn Monroe

At no time should your career be everything. Even if you possess the ideal career that never feels like work, you absolutely must create balance by building a life as well. Imagine how much more you will enjoy your work if you are refreshed from a weekend away with your significant other, or after spending the evening working on an art project with your two-year-old.

Wear a Crown

“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” – Oprah Winfrey

Look in the mirror and see your crown. Own your greatness. Love yourself first. When you do this everyday, you will no longer fear mistakes or failures. Your self-confidence will soar, and so will your successes.

Write Yourself Love Notes

“People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.” – Brian Tracy

Goalsetting is the business equivalent of writing love notes to you. What is a love note really? A love note starts with a declaration. Profess your love by naming your goal. Support that love by listing the things that you can do together that will move you toward a deeper love and a fuller existence. Tell yourself what benefits you receive from the interaction with your love/goal. Instead of folding the love note into a little triangle and tucking it into your desk drawer, proudly display your love note for you and the world to see everyday.

Search Until You Find It

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there’s love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” – Ella Fitzgerald

We can all appreciate what “settling” does in a relationship; work is no different. Just as with seeking the right person with whom to have a lasting, loving relationship, finding the right job/position/career for you involves trial and error.  You might have to kiss a few frogs until you find your prince. Keep looking until you find the one that brings love and inspiration.

What IS Your Work?

“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” – Buddha

If you are unsure, perhaps you haven’t worked hard enough yet to discover what your life’s work should be. Take a class. Join a club. Volunteer at a local charity. Actively research the things that interest you. Somewhere inside that head, and heart, you will locate the key the job that will never feel like work.

Restore Your Youth

“To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” – Pearl Buck

Have you noticed that when you are “in love” you feel young, free, and over the moon happy? Loving your work, finding joy there is no different. Even if the role you currently play at work is not exactly what you thought it would be, you can find some joy in it. Are you learning and growing? If you are learning valuable skills that will benefit you at your next job, then embrace the joy that you are not wasting your valuable time. Find the beauty and joy, and you will feel younger, energized, and revitalized.

As with any relationship, your relationship with your job is not static. It will change and grow as you do. Sometimes you will grow together, and sometimes you will grow apart. Loving your job requires effort. If you are in the right job, the effort will be worth your while. If you are in the wrong one, no matter what you do, you will not learn to love your job. You might learn to appreciate it’s good qualities, but if it’s wrong for you, don’t expect it to change, find a new one.