Most of us hate our job. It’s a common theme. Too common that I can’t help but wonder whether the problem is our jobs or if it’s something else more ingrained, systemic, and maybe existential.
Hi, I’m Janice. And I’m your wokeforce ally. I’m here to take you on a journey with me toward work positivity.
A bit of myself. I’ve been on the grind for 17 years now and boy have I been all over the place. From sweating it out in factories and warehouses to flipping burgers at Mc. Donald’s, to doing field sales, and to standing for hours on end in retail shops. I’ve worked as a front desk agent, a Walmart associate, a barista, a caregiver, and the list goes on. I’ve had a good ride in corporations too. I was a call center agent as a young professional and slowly worked my way up the corporate ladder over the course of 12 years. I’d say I was able to build a decent career for myself back in my home country – only to start from scratch again when I immigrated here in the United States in 2017. And when I say from scratch, I mean cleaning houses, waking up at 3 am every day to bake doughnuts and kolaches, and getting my awful share of Karen horror stories. My physical, mental, and emotional struggles were absolutely real. However, overall, I consider the entire journey as an adventure in itself and a compelling character-building process that I am so grateful for up to this day.
One observation that truly stands out throughout these years is our seemingly negative relationship with our jobs affecting our mental health and overall quality of life. It used to be enough to simply have a secure and stable source of income. So how did we end up in this sad and almost miserable state? Is it the 9 to 5 stigma? Is it the notion that everyone seems to be “pursuing their passion” and “doing what they love”, and maybe we’re not? Is it this entrepreneurial movement in the background that constantly nags us about being our own boss? Or this overall social toxic mentality that our job defines us? How do family and social pressures aggravate our situation? Are we blindly following traditions? Is it possible too that we were not set up for success by our own institutions? Have our infrastructures become “outdated” and failed us? Is it the birth of social media that’s driving us all nuts? Could this be a generational problem? Or maybe we just don’t have the right tools? I do not know the answers to all of these questions but one thing is certain – something is broken.
As I now resume my corporate career as entry-level personnel again, I feel compelled to explore this often stressful department of our life to hopefully find answers, reconcile conflicts, and provide effective ways to cope. Ultimately, I wish to help bring out the best in the workforce once again through a renewed collective awareness about simplified work mindsets toward enriched lives.
If building a good relationship with your job sounds like a meaningful cause to you, then join my huddles and be a Wokeforce ally. See you around!