FRUSTRATED WITH LIFE? Ch. 5 "Work"

“Work is love made real.”

“Individual commitment to a group effort---that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

Vince Lombardi

WORK Statistic

Wall Street Journal, (July 19, 2016): Although the percentage of workers indicating they are satisfied with their job is the highest in 10 years, it was still just under 50%.

Chapter 5:
Work

Reading through these posts brings me back to my days when I worked at E.F. Hutton, a brokerage firm on Wall Street.

I loved that job, but when I first started there, my department’s supervisor was a real tyrant. I’m not sure why she behaved the way she did, but she really tried to make my life there a difficult one.

Since it was my very first corporate job, I was ignorant enough to think that it was normal for her to demean people.

Being ignorant is not the solution to the problem at work, but it does help if you ignore the unintelligent things your superiors do, and rise above by doing your job well. Yes, sometimes they’ll take the credit for your hard work, which is itself frustrating. However, going beyond what’s expected of you will get you noticed by your superiors.

I was lucky enough that the supervisor left the company within the year of my starting, and the new supervisor was a delight to work with. He saw my hard work, and ensured that I was treated with the respect I deserved.

I recall that I moved up the ladder rather quickly at that company, mostly because I was a hard-working problem solver. Upper management always tapped my abilities, and that made them look good to their superiors.

I was moving up the ladder quickly and had become a supervisor myself, until the company was taken over by Shearson Lehman Brothers. The new company only kept a handful of us and rid themselves of all upper management.

I lasted three months in the new company because they wanted robots and yes-men. I am neither.

You have the choice to work for someone, or work for yourself.

There are many people and agencies that can help you start your own business if you truly can’t live working for someone else.

SCORE, for instance, is a group of nearly 12,000 volunteers with chapters throughout the United States. They are a branch of the SBA (Small Business Administration) and since 1964, their mission has been to help individuals start or grow their business.

All volunteers are either retired executives with vast business experience, or they’re still in the trenches. I’m a volunteer that happens to still be in the trenches.

Did I mention that their mentoring services are totally free? Yes, you can tap into decades of business experience at no cost in order to start and grow your business. Visit SCORE.org to find a chapter near you.

There are many other such programs like SCORE. Simply search your area and you will find one if SCORE is not available.

I can tell you from experience that running your own business is not for everyone, and you’ll work many more hours than you ever did working for someone else.

Yes, you’ll still deal with less-than-ideal people, like vendors, customers and even employees. The upside is that you can change vendors, get new customers, and train your employees to be better at what they do.

As you read through the following posts, see what resonates. Perhaps starting your own business is not for you, and the posts will simply remind you that you are not alone.

Feel free to visit FrustratedWithLife.com and share your story.

  Edison R. Guzman

#8

I was going to ask for a raise since receiving a great performance review. Today I went in and was told that I need to take a pay cut or lose my job! WTH

#12

I have this very stupid client that thinks that he can con me into giving him free services every month. I just got another email from him threatening to fire me if I don't send a cleaner over. Hello...you can't fire me every month when I don't work for you in the first place. Idiot.

#15

Work tomorrow. Hate everybody there. No one understands me. The supervisor hates me. Wish they fire me so i can get unemployment.

#36

I am stuck at a job i hate, in a town that I hate making very little money but since I am in the development industry, I am "lucky" to have a job. Even with a great resume and a master's degree I have had one interview in the last year. On the employment boards every day but the jobs in my field are scarce and there are thousands more looking for jobs then those available. I try to think positive but I make the 40 minute drive to work every morning hating life a little more every day.

#37

I am getting highly frustrated with my job. I tell about it to my boss but he is not ready to give me release from my current work and give another work. I have other options of doing something but nobody from my family stands with me. Even my wife wants me to carry on with this job.I want to cry and cry. I try to read other things and try to make me busy with other activities but every time thought of being in this job occupies my mind. I am so obsessed with it. Please pray for me.

#43

I am frustrated that I get paid the same amount and work the same amount of hours as another person I work with, yet, the somehow manage to do maybe 1/4 of the work I do. I am tired of working my ass off for NOTHING!

#82

I feel like my boss might hate me. I'm not sure why, but he's been completely shitty. When I apologize for doing nothing, I get no acknowledgement.

#83

I just love when you have co-workers you think you can confide in and they just turn out to be back-stabbing B's!!!

#85

I’m frustrated with myself because I get in these fiesty moods at work and the very next day I question everything I said. Most people would probably just move on but for some reason I am so hard on myself to be perfect. When will I accept myself and stop analyzing my every move?

#87

Its quite frustating and irritating when someone else get the credit of your work. Seniors and my idiot manager take the all credit of my work. I don,t know how many exams a life would take from me. I do not found any happiness around me, its like everyone is to just snatch off around me. I m now afraid of dreaming too now. I think my BOss is blind to.......... He can’t see who is working in office sincerely and who is not..

#88

I try to treat everyone in the office politely and it turns out, most of them talk bad abt me all the time. When I refuse to do them favors, I am the "devil" to them, and when I help them out, no thank yous at all.....what a bunch of idiots......

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This is the beginning of Chapter 5 of this book by Edison R. Guzman and Douglas Winslow Cooper, published this year and available in paperback and ebook formats through amazon.com. It is based on the entries to the blog Edison Guzman managed for several years. These entries have not been edited.