The Zombie Worker
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Steve Jobs
Every mortal in this world must earn to live; earn to survive in the world of what to eat, what to wear, where to live, and the inevitable question of how to transcend. Therefore, having a job is persistent variable in the equation of our lives, and we like it or not, is something we must deal with.
Dealing with a job or any action that brings you an income is a sine qua non condition to grow and progress in your life; either financially or professionally, but even though it is indispensable to wake up everyday to fulfill someone else’s dream (my own definition of a Job) to earn some cash, it doesn’t mean we are doomed to become a zombie worker in our lives just because it is “indispensable”. Believe me, not even a walker zombie would survive that unmotivated aversion of going to work.
At the beginning I stated that we must earn to survive in the world of the “WHATs”, what to eat, what to wear, etc. The problem is that people’s motivation lays down in WHATs not in the WHYs. The solution of our motivation isfounded in WHY are we taking the job, and not only in the “What’s” the job is giving us. For example, a very good friend of mine told me 5 daysago she was a candidate for a prominent recruitment agency. The agency really wanted her to accept the job. And naturally she was beyond excited about the job offer, but she was only saying tangible motivation reasons — “The amount of money the recruiters make is crazy, so I can make so much money” and not only that “I have a minimum wage but if I’m allocated somebody the commission is enormous” “I am very happy because I will have money to buy new clothes, new this and that…”- My first comment was “My friend, you should think in something bigger than yourself, something that drives, inspires you to do something bigger than what is tangible. Either call it in capitalizing on networking, so you can have a portfolio clients for your next business or endeavor, or maybe because you want to accept the challenge in looking skills in people that nobody has ever seen, or because you’ll have the opportunity to bring jobs to the people in your community and pushing you to get to new social circles.”
Today she hates the job, she is perceiving all the problems and dislikeable things in less than a week, but why? There is money, and apparently you can make loads of money in the beautiful offices that are located in Sydney City, this means great prestige in working there… But at the end she was doing it for something aspirational not inspirational. Tangible things like money are just external stimulations that will pop up until the in the end of the month, and we will enter into a carrot and stick cycle.
“Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” – Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos
So what can we do so we don’t fall into zombie-land territory, hating everything we do in our job? Well, I recommend you to know these two main things that are link to your motivation at work:
1.- PURPOSE: If you want to feel driven and not wanting to hit the snooze button like a maniac in the morning, you must have a purpose. Either a life, professional or at least financial purpose. This is the WHY you are standing where you are standing, allowing you to cushion the labor hits, the night shifts and probably not sleeping just because you want to succeed at your job. Motiving yourself with a purpose that is bigger than yourself makes you believe that is possible to change anything in the world.
Try to focus yourself in companies that changes the status quo, poverty, hunger, the world or center on anything that you believe in either hobbies, goals, values etc. Because if your purpose aligns with a company’s philosophy, your nights will become days, and you will have an inner self growth interest in learning more about what you are doing; inevitably your passion and drive to excel at your job will give you money, rewards and benefits.
1.1.- INTRINSIC MOTIVATION. Purpose is correlated with intrinsic motivation; but to make myself clear it’s not that I’m encouraging doing things for free because at the end we must eat something, unless we actually become zombies. But if your are driven by something intrinsic, the reward will be the activity itself, and you’ll feel eager to learn deeper, put your heart and soul in the job you are doing, and like I said the money will be the result of all the sweat and toil.
2.- SELF DETERMINATION THEORY: So maybe you are in a company that has the goal to change the world and you believe in it. But perhaps the job’s circumstances don’t let you grow, or even worst you might have just a ‘boss’ not a leader. Well there is something called Self Determination Theory(“SDT”) and it states that we have three innate psychological needs: competence, autonomy and relatedness. When those needs are satisfied, we’re motivated, productive and happy. This theory comes from the psychologist Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, which suggests that people tend to be driven by a need to grow and gain fulfillment. It means that if a job environment covers these areas you will have a self-growth mindset and you will feel self-motivated.
This subject could spawn a whole new blog post, but in a few words this theory focuses on internal sources of motivation. Which are gaining mastery of tasks and learn new and different skills (competence), the feeling that you belong to a group, and attachment to other people (Relatedness), and the feeling independent, in control of their own behaviors and goals (Autonomy).
Therefore, you should create either as an employee or employer creative environments that fulfills this psychological need, so you or your personnel feels driven and motivated, this will increase your productivity and love in what you are doing.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.- Steve Jobs
So next time you are getting a job offer think twice about the reasons for taking the job, is it a money/external reward situation? If yes, what are the means to the end? A business project, travelling or a hobby? And if it is just a way to get money without a bigger goal, think twice, because you will hate it, and you will find yourself trying to survive inside the company’s jungle. Because you must feel driven and passionate about what you are doing, this is the only way to grow internally (deeper learning) and externally (money, networking etc.)
If you enjoyed this post, share it so more people can feel motivated and get out of zombieland! Any questions let me know in the comments, or send me an email to hello@danielyubi.com, I’d be very grateful if you’d help me share my blogs! Thank you. Daniel Yubi
Audentes Fortuna Iuvat. Virgil
Sources:
Start With Why — Simon Sinek
Drive — Daniel H. Pink