“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” Maya Angelou
This week’s photo of Usain Bolt leading the 100m sprint final with the big grin taken as he looked to his side is not only an incredible still of an icon creating history, but also a reflection of what it’s like to love what you do that much.
The photographer, Cameron Spencer said “With history you look at these moments and say ‘That was the world’s fastest man in Rio, doing what he does best, with a smile on his face looking at the other competitors, basically enjoying life and enjoying what he does best, which is running faster than anyone else ever has in history’.”
Bolt brings with him an enviable mix of focus, professionalism and determination, along with wanting to enjoy the journey as well as the destination. We could all learn to do this more, particularly in the workplace, where we can forget to enjoy the moments, enjoy the team, and enjoy the process that we’re committing to while coping with the internal and external pressures with a healthier perspective.
Have a think about what would help you enjoy your job more, (or even more,) and then how could you create that? (If you’re a leader, do you genuinely know how much your team enjoys their job?)
It may be a change you have to make yourself (be it your perspective, your approach, your habits, or your behaviour for example) or a change within your team (be it more open communication, more trust, more transparency or more lightness for example.)
It often only needs a small change to create a big result, and because not loving your job would be a horrible option to have to face every day, it’s definitely worth doing something about it.