Bad Attitudes, Bad work values

Attitudes and values help us see how we will be in the working world. Not many people think that it is their values learned long ago that proves them to be a hard worker or lazy worker sort of person. First off, values are beliefs that a person has about what is right and wrong. They are also something that individuals have an emotional investment in.

The difference between right and wrong is something that is instilled in all of us from a very early age. You can probably remember hearing “you should not have done that, that was not very nice.” This is an example of learning about our behavior and how it fits into the world. Our values are determined by attitudes and expectations which stems from our own ideas on how we think things should be.

We have thoughts about how things should be, but at times reality and how we think things should be are quiet different. I hear a lot that some participants feel “it is not fair that this happened” or that “this is not the way it is supposed to be.”  Well, when you break down the reality it did. Once we allow our own expectations and thoughts of how things “should be” get involved we begin to alter our behavior.

It is easy to lose a job due to allowing our behavior to make us resentful of something at work. It is easy to fall into the group of gossipers and complainers when we become angry at work. The fact of the matter is, in today’s economy, with jobs even more difficult to obtain each day, a person needs to treat each day like it is their first day of work. In your mind, go back to the first day on the job excitement, the looking and learning everything, because if we take the job for granted we might not have it anymore.

We place a lot of emotional investment into finding a job or career and we can put just as much energy into losing it also. I know that there will be some hectic days, some bad days and some stressful days, but I like to carry with me one thought. You can start your day over at any point. Now I do not mean that you can have the “Groundhog Day” type of experience, but if you are stressed, or hectic and it is starting to grate on your last nerve, you can take 5 minutes to do some breathing and re-center yourself. Even if those 5 minutes has to happen on a bathroom break just to get away from the phone/email and those coworkers who might be needing more of your time that you can afford at the moment.

If the employee does not keep an eye on their mental state, their productivity can go down, their mood can go sour and they might find their behavior helping them out of a job. To return to that first day love for the job one needs to remember that every job can end today and nothing is permanent in the world of work. It helps keep one refreshed and excited and ready to grow, learn and change.  If you go to a job just for a check then your behavior will show it, if you are unhappy at the job your behavior will show it also. We have the right to expect some things, but when you have unrealistic expectations on how things “should be” or the way you want them to be, that can be a recipe for disaster. Yes we can expect to be respected at work, not be harassed, intimidated or belittled by our co-workers, but the fact is that often times there might be one or two who want to sabotage you and see you fail. Is that right, fair, or the way things should be?... No it is not right or fair but it does happen. Remember your attitudes will determine how good of a fit you are for the job and how good of a fit the job is for you.

Remember one thing it is easier to lose a job than to find one.