A new year signifies a chance to make this year better than the last and January 1 seems like a good solid starting point for many people. So here are 3 things to "give up," "give out," and "give in" for your work life in 2018.
Give Up... Trying to Please Everyone
Trying to please everyone at work is hard. You may find yourself stuck sometimes between your clients, your boss, your organization, and your conscious. That's no easy place to be! So this year, give up trying to please everyone. If not, you'll spend too much time feeling like you're running on the hamster wheel or juggling five breakable plates and the only person that will be exhausted by it all is YOU. I'm not saying don't try to do the best job you can, but sometimes there will be an unhappy person and that's just part of life.
Give Out... More Compliments
I'm terrible for not saying thank you enough and truly showing appreciation for someone's extra effort or hard work on a project. Giving out compliments and showing appreciation for others is known to boost your own happiness. Why not take the 5 minutes to write out a hand written note, type up an email, or just say, "Thank you so much!" to your colleagues, employees, supervisors, or anyone else that has done a good job? They will very much appreciate it. Don't keep all the good feeling to yourself. Share the wealth in 2018!
Give In... To Asking For What You Need
People are not mind readers, and yet, we want our supervisors, co-workers, and employees to intuitively know the things that would make our work lives easier. When we don't get what we need to complete a task we're resentful that they're not being sensitive or considerate of our needs. But the question is, do they even know? Or are we just too afraid to ask?
Asking for help is not a weakness, but a strength. It doesn't mean you can't do the job, just that you may need a something else in order to do it to the best that it can be. Sometimes you just need clarity or further direction. Other times you need capital aka resources, whether that be human capital, social capital, or financial capital. This year, let's not afraid to ask for what we need at work. I think you'll find you'll be even more successful than you were in 2017. And the worst they can say is "no," right?
As The Rolling Stones say,
““You can’t always get what you want,
But if you try sometimes
You just might find you get what you need!” ”
I think if you ASK sometimes, your chances of getting what you need will drastically increase. And won't that be better for everyone's bottom line?