What do the thoughts swirling around your brain about your job sound like? What do you answer and what do your facial expressions look like when people ask: “How are things at work?” Do you perhaps dread an enquiry like: “Do you enjoy what you do?”

The cliché “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life” isn’t true for every single human being. The world is too complicated and systems are too inhumane and broken to allow all people to find their passion and earn a living while pursuing it.

So, what do you do if you always dreamed of becoming a doctor, teacher, accountant, stay at home parent, actor, chef, author, musician etc. but because of a lack of funds and opportunities, you are now stuck in a job you didn’t really choose? Or what if you are working your dream job and it turned out to be just “meh”?

It’s not awful, it’s not horrendous, but it’s not great or fantastic either. There’s no abuse or bullying, no injustices or criminality, but it’s not life-changing or exciting either. It’s just same old same old, mundane and boring. You doubt it serves much of a purpose.

Sometimes you hear yourself embellishing reality to not loose face in the company of people who have fabulous careers that they absolutely adore. Other times you hear yourself moaning and you wonder when you became such a cranky curmudgeon.

If any of this resonates with you, then let’s call a spade a spade: It is time for either taking action or embracing your inaction. Are you going to resign and find another job or are you staying?

There is no shame in staying. There are multiple reasons why holding on to a job is the better option. It could be the salary perks or the fact that your family wishes to stay where you are currently residing.

Or it can simply be that there are no better options in your field due to economic factors beyond your control. Half day jobs for mothers are scarce and women tend to hold onto them. Or being able to work flexi hours or from home, could be your reason for staying.

Whatever your reason for deciding not to leave and find another job, now you have two options: Embrace having this life you have and the job you do, or spiral down into a dark pit of bitterness and despair while still having to actually do the job.

The gift of a simple life will transform your work experience

Your point of view is your choice. You’re not changing your job, but you can change your perspective and the words you think and speak.

Changing the way you see your life as blessed with boring routines will change the way you see your job. Instead of viewing and describing it as a source of stress, see it and talk about it as a platform for stability, productivity, and, paradoxically, creative freedom.

Even if it feels false in the beginning, think of and speak about the way you earn your income as “my good enough job”. Optimistic thoughts and hearing positive words provides security to your brain.

This leaves you with more mental energy get your job done. It also leaves space for finding passion and joy outside the office, and even inside it. However, be clear: If your workplace is toxic or abusive, that is a different matter and you should reach out for help.

A good enough job is one that leaves room for leaving, but for now you choose to maintain the status quo. You don’t hate, loathe and despise it, and you also don’t live in abject fear of it.

You just would like it to be a bit more glamorous and exciting – like the jobs of other people that you see on social media. If this is how you feel about what you do and you are staying, embracing a simplistic, authentic way of living can make all the difference.

Here are a few positive impacts on your good enough job if you decide to start loving your simple, boring but still full colour life:

• Increased productivity and cognitive efficiency: A predictable, routine-driven life removes the need for constant, energy-draining decisions, allowing you to use your mental energy for high-priority tasks.
• Improved focus: Stability shields you from chaotic distractions, providing the mental clarity needed to focus on, and finish, important work.
• Mastery of skills: A repetitive job allows you to perfect your skills, making you highly efficient and allowing you to operate on “autopilot” for routine tasks, freeing your mind for more complex work. 
• Enhanced creativity and problem-solving: A mundane job that doesn’t consume all your brainpower or constantly over-stimulates you, opens “empty space” in the brain that fosters creativity and allows for “a-ha!” moments.
• Improved well-being: By reducing daily complaining, drama and chaos, you experience less of the negative emotions and reactions that often lead to burnout, thus protecting your overall wellness.
• Better sleep: Constantly ruminating on how you need to do more and have more, disturbs your ability to relax and fall asleep. Going to bed at peace, grateful and calm, allows for better sleep, which boosts your performance the next day. 
• Clear boundaries: Embracing a good enough job means you can truly leave work at work, ensuring your personal time remains personal.
• Increased gratitude: By not constantly chasing the next high-adrenaline, “Instagram-worthy” moment, you learn to feel blessed in the stability and security you already have. 
• Increased engagement: Viewing your job as a blessing often leads to greater optimism, which increases your motivation to do well and makes you more likely to get into a state of “flow”, when time just seems to fly by while your working. 
• More energy for self-growth and change: Utilise your freed up time and energy to find activities and spaces where you can live out your dreams.

However, this does not mean your good-enough job has to be your forever job. If following your dreams means changing jobs or developing a new skill set somewhere in future, go for it. Go job-hunting then with a renewed focus, fresh requirements and different intentions.

Once you accept that your job isn’t your sole purpose in life or the only attribute that defines your worth, you can appreciate it for what it is: A source of money that enables you to do what you are passionate about in your free time.

At the same time, your workplace remains a place where you can build connections with people that make a difference in their lives. In your good enough job you also get to be salt of the earth and light of the world in all that you do.