When we are motivated and inspired, we seem to be the most productive, we have a sense of purpose by delivering what we are meant to, by utilising our skills and feel that they are being put to the best use.
We all have successful people we admire and look up to and more often than not, we think their lives must be perfect; they may appear to be, but we are all human, do you think Richard Branson has only ever had good days? It’d be naive to think that he has, he’s certainly faced some challenges over the years!
Then for one reason or another; all of a sudden it feels that the carpet has swept from under your feet and you’re left feeling negative and thinking that you’ll not get back to your best. Perhaps it is a time of significant change to the organisation you work for and you may be feeling unsettled or perhaps your appraisal didn’t go as you had hoped.
Workplaces can be a place filled with frustration and stress; even if you are in a role you love, it is not usual to feel that you have lost your motivation sometimes and only demonstrates that organisations need to have robust wellbeing strategies in place to ensure productivity levels are consistent.
So how can you get back to a place where you are excited about your work? We cannot change the immediate environment and sweeping the issue away is not an option; but what you are able to do, is to review the opportunities that the negativity has presented. If you have received criticism, think about how you can put a positive spin on it by using it as an opportunity to develop. You cannot wait for positivity to come to you; you have to create your own; behaviour reflects how we think and feel, if we remain in a state of negativity, then it can make the initial situation even worse. In our profession, it is a situation we see all too often; dealing with the situation sooner rather than later will avoid long term damage to performance and working relationships.
We cannot plan for these events as we never know when they will occur but what we can do is prepare for how we respond when it does. Revisit your goals, review your development and see how you can learn from the experience, seek out the challenges and get to work on solving the puzzles.
Too often we take things at face value, when we start to dig deeper, that is where the real magic happens.
Natalie Ellis HR 