It’s Valentine’s week so let’s talk about how to find and keep love alive in your family business. I always come from the perspective that life is short — you should find ways to love whatever work you are doing to make a living and provide for your family.
All jobs have opportunities to be challenging but family businesses offer even more chances to get disheartened. Family conflict, sibling rivalry and other assorted family dynamics can all lead to problems.
Here’s my short list of ideas for ways to rekindle your love for your job:
Try to Focus on What’s Right About Your Situation
There are some benefits to working in a family business like a certain amount of job security, some status for being part of a business family and reliability of the future of the company.
Reconnect to Why You Took the Job in the First Place
Think about what interested you in the job in the first place. Get reconnected to what it felt like when you arrived on the scene. Try to rekindle that feeling.
Focus on the Impact You or the Business is Having in the Community
Think about what good the company is providing for its employees or the community. Most businesses provide an important role for many families.
Request a New Assignment
It’s common in large corporations for people to get transferred to different roles and divisions to broaden their experience and value to the company. A change in roles might be good for you and help you get that loving feeling back or help you realize your previous role was pretty good.
Learn New Skills – Attend a Personal Development Program
Acquiring new information and education can create new ways of looking at your job. Bring some creativity to the job and maybe that can create some spark. The Landmark Forum is one I always highly recommend to give you a powerful new outlook on life.
Ingest More Positivity
If you’re not feeling the love then start looking for some positive channels on the internet. There are so many great podcasts and other resources for your consumption. Lay off the news talk a bit. Energy is contagious the more positivity you hang around the more of it will rub off on you.
Request a Sabbatical
If you’ve been at the family business for over 10 years ask them for a several week sabbatical. See what they say. Make them an offer and tell them you will go learn something and come back with a renewed love for the place. Tell them Coach Pete said they should grant it.
Find a Mentor
Find somebody that loves their job and ask them how they have maintained their love for their job. Ask them to mentor you on finding more love in your work. A coach can be a great option for this as well.
Find a New Job or a New Passion
If all of that doesn’t work it might be time to move on. Get a career coach (we have one on our team) to help you find a profession that will help you love what you do.
The Bottom Line – Challenge from Coach
It’s normal in the course of a career to have your passion for your job ebb and flow. It’s also your personal responsibility to make sure you’re bringing a good positive attitude to work everyday because it has such an important impact on the overall attitude and work experience for everyone on the team. Be courageous and relentless in pursuit of happiness in your professional life.
I’ve always said to my kids…find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life!
