Picture you. Now picture you in your current job. The work is there waiting for you like it always is. You have calls to return, emails to plow through. Your schedule is full, too full. Is there really another meeting about that same subject? Will we never make any progress? You cannot believe that conversation you had with a colleague – why is he so difficult to deal with at times? And your boss, does she not understand that continually asking about your progress on a project doesn’t make it go any faster?
Picture you. Now picture you at your new job.
You have a clean desk and a new notepad. You are seeing people with fresh eyes. Everyone is interesting. Not difficult or odd, rather challenging and a little quirky. You want to understand what they do and why they do things the way they do. You don’t take disagreement personally.
Think of all the problems your boss and new colleagues and staff talk to you about. Sluggish sales? Difficult customers? Staffing issues? Resource constraints?
In a new job they all feel like challenges AND opportunities. You have a chance to make an impact and a difference. You feel excited about making suggestions. You question things. You believe things can be different, maybe even better. When you hear about problems you think, okay, there must be a solution. Who can I partner with to work through this? You are listening carefully on calls and in meetings, not making assumptions and remaining open to new ideas. At the end of the day when you see the calls you need to return and the emails that you need to respond to, you’re glad that people are already including you and coming to you as part of the team.
So that’s why I fired myself last Friday, and re-hired myself today, on Monday. Because the “old” job I left Friday is the “new” job I started today. And, the way I experience my new job today is all about perspective. It is knowing from experience that I have always approached a new job with excitement, expectations and a “can do” approach; that I’ve been open to change, expected it and in fact, have wanted to lead it.
So ask yourself as you set up your day, your week, your month: if this was a new job how would I approach it? It might be as simple as shifting your perspective from “been there, done that,” to “new here, willing to try that.” Would I work through lunch eating at my desk? Or would I look to share a conversation with someone so I could better get to know them? Would I set myself a goal to learn something new about a product or service or current project? I know I would read emails more carefully and less cynically. I’d join a group discussion on the company Facebook page or intranet. I'd be me, in fact, an optimistic version of me with a new and refreshed perspective. New job, Monday me.
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