I Hate My Job

I was asked today if I ever get bored doing what I do. 

This person went on to say that they found it hard to believe that an intelligent, hardworking and ambitious young person could find job satisfaction in writing exercise programs for folks that weren’t high level athletes.  

To be honest, it made me laugh, mostly due to the fact that we’re in a pandemic with double digit unemployment rates and I’m lucky enough to have a job so who cares if I’m bored anyway, but also due to the idea that boredom is a result of the job as opposed to the employee.  Boring work is one thing, a bored employee is another.  

So far, I’ve avoided the boredom bug at work by following a few key principles.  Not only have they helped me stave off the afternoon naps, they’ve also helped me to continue to grow within my profession and as a young adult.  

Gratitude first 

I like to leave little Thank You notes for those that I train.  While writing these notes I usually have a few “Ah Ha” moments about what I’m experiencing daily.  I experience mothers training in their few extra moments that they can put aside for themselves, I experience businessmen training prior to a day packed with meetings.  I train with kids who want to find success at school and young professionals trying to make it in their careers.  Every day is an opportunity to see humanity at its best.  Clawing, scratching and climbing to find something better, to improve just a little bit and find the next beautiful view.   That alone makes my job anything but boring.  

I’m not “There” yet

When the day comes that I’ve learned all that I can and seen all that I can see, I hope the lights go out.  There are endless avenues to finding a better way.  What I’m doing today is not the best way to do things.  There are better training principles, better equipment and better coaching cues.  It’s my job to find them.  Not boring.   

My job isn’t my life

Even if work is boring, that doesn’t mean that I am bored.  Sure, writing programs can be tedious when I’m doing 20 at a time.  Coaching the same exercises doesn’t always feel like the spinning ride at the fair.  With that said, if I’m showing up to work bored, beat down and looking for happiness, I usually need to figure out my life outside of work.  This summer, I picked up golf seriously.  No matter what happened at work, I could always think about the next best way to improve my swing.  It’s important to differentiate boring work and being bored at work.  One is a description of work, the other is a description of the person.   One is acceptable, the other is not.    

So there you have it.  Is my work boring?  Sometimes, I can’t deny it.  Am I ever bored at work?  No.  If the day comes when I find myself bored as hell sitting on my ass waiting for something exciting to happen, that’ll be the day I hope life kicks me in the face and reminds me that there’s another hill to climb.   

To the lovely lady who asked me if I’m bored at work.  Thank you but get back to work.