The Mind is a Double Edged Sword - Demotivational Work

So for the last week or so, I've made very little progress with any events or projects. It's also been an entire week since I last posted on this blog. I've started to write quite a couple of posts but they just didn't come out the way I wanted, so I saved them as drafts and I may come back and look at them one day. Most of them had something to start them off but didn't seem like fleshed out ideas.

I noticed that ever since I first started my new temporary job that my motivation to do anything dropped significantly. Going to a job that you hate was one of the worst experiences that I've had on the Gold Coast. The work wasn't laborious and paid reasonably, but the work was something that I could barely bring myself to doing. I was working for Bond University's Annual Fund Calling Campaign. In short we were calling up Alumni and asking for donations. I actually have no problem in regards to this, but what really killed me inside was how we were going about it. We would talk with them initially for a few minutes regarding their career and lives to build a rapport. But ultimately this was really just a front to soften them up and get them to donate. I personally hate operating like that. I don't ever intend to use such superficial tactics to persuade people. I don't believe business or human interactions should ever drop to that level. But perhaps I'm holding too much of a moral integrity to the situation.

But anyways, I really hated my job. It was a job where you are forced to annoy people, act superficial to them and  receive regular abuse. Most of the days, I didn't feel like doing anything after work and literally just ate and slept. I was barely in the mood to hang out with friends or play videogames, let alone work on any projects.

So today was the last day of the calling campaign, and I honestly feel quite relieved. But looking back, I was so much less productive outside work for the last couple of weeks. When I think about it now, I can understand how some people can really start losing motivation in their work and eventually go on to hate it. The work that we do regularly is something we attach value and our own personal lives to. Working on something that we really enjoy and want to see happen can inspire great motivation and creativity in people, whereas a terrible work environment can not only reduce one's capacity but also spill over into other areas of life. So I suppose the first lesson that I should take away from this is that one's work, business or job is so influential to the rest of their life. Here's a short video to sum up what I mean.

Further exploring this point, I can see it's important to create this positive mindset for not only yourself but for all those that work with you. When you consider what places like Apple, Google and Valve do for their employees, it makes sense that they are really trying to help their employees enjoy what they do. I'm no psychologist, but I can sense that my mind works at a much higher level when I'm doing something I truly enjoy or believe in. I think getting the best out of people really depends on encouraging them to awaken their mind's potential. As for the details of how to do this, I'll think about it some more and talk about it in the future.

To summarize today's post
- a bad work environment destroys you and will flow into other areas of life
- you're worth more than a crappy job, change things if you feel like you're in this rut
- make work something your employees or team mates look forward or believe in to get the best out of them

PS: I think "The Mind is a Double Edged Sword" is the final category of posts that I'll be making. I was really inspired  to call it this because it seems that many of the struggles that an entrepreneur faces is not in regards to money or business but their own mind.