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Does Your Job Make You Sick?

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: These days, when a general mood of worry and anxiety is on the rise in many industries, your job could start making you sick before you realize what's happening. If you're starting to miss work, or if you notice that feelings of dread and anxiety seem to precede or accompany your bouts of illness, it could be the beginning of a pattern. But don't just quit. First, undertake three courses of action that might help you get healthy and happy with your work.

Does Your Job Make You Sick?

Healthy People Seek Healthy Environments At some point in your career you've probably worked with someone who just couldn't seem to stay healthy. At first they just call in sick a time or two... then it's much more frequent... then, they've missed so much work they start to worry about staying employed, so they start coming sick to work... then they infect others (maybe you), and it starts to become apparent to everyone that the situation just isn't working out. In some cases, there's something at the workplace that doesn't agree with the person (maybe they're allergic to something in the building). But in many cases, the body's ailments start in the mind. That doesn't mean the person isn't truly sick and truly suffering. They are. But it could mean that it isn't the workplace, but the work itself, that doesn't agree with that individual.

Not all jobs are healthy for all people. These days, when a general mood of worry and anxiety is on the rise in many industries, your job could start making you sick before you realize what's happening. If you're starting to miss work, or if you notice that feelings of dread and anxiety seem to precede or accompany your bouts of illness, it could be the beginning of a pattern. But don't just quit. First, undertake three courses of action that might help you get healthy and happy with your work.

Start by refocusing on your personal health habits. The big five are the habits I refer to as The NEWSS, and making changes in your Nutrition, Exercise, Water intake, Sleep, and Supplements can take you far in your quest to revitalize yourself. What changes can you make right away? Here's a quick suggestion on each of the NEWSS practices: replace two snacks a day with fresh fruit or fresh veggies... go for a fast walk each day before lunch (try to work up a sweat for 15 minutes)... get a water bottle and count how much water you drink, and make sure it's at least two liters every day... take an herbal sleep aid at bedtime (including such herbs as Valerian) to make your sleep more restful... and get at least one good multi-vitamin to supplement your diet (a liquid nutraceutical is best).

Along with your new physical health focus, think about how you can start a business on the side which might provide you with a back-up to your job. These days, you can start an internet business with very little investment of time, energy, and money. Look for a good platform that can teach you how to do business online, and for a community of entrepreneurs that can help support you as you get the enterprise off the ground. The mental strength you can draw from knowing you have a good back-up plan might be exactly what you need to get through this bad patch at your day job... and if it doesn't work out, it can make your transition to another job (or to becoming a full-time entrepreneur) much easier.

Finally, I always advise my coaching clients to keep a journal, and now is a great time to start doing some reflecting and writing. Journal your health habits (I give myself a weekly score on each of the five NEWSS practices, and try to make sure I score at least 80 out of 100 points on each every week). It's also a great idea to journal the progress of your side-business. Finally, do some reflecting on your day job, and make sure you write down your thoughts and feelings. Why do you think your job's making you less healthy? What are you worried about... is it just one person, or one project, and might you survive that challenge? What do you love about your job... why were you so happy when you landed the job? Journaling can really help you get some perspective by rising out of the day-to-day "incident reporting" that your brain can't avoid doing, focusing away from what you have to put up with at work and toward the reasons that make it worth putting up with.

At the end of the day, you may conclude that you can't stay with your current job... healthy people ultimately seek healthy environments, and they seek jobs in which they can thrive and succeed. But don't pull the plug before you've tried some other things that might rekindle your vitality in your current role. Things change fast these days. Whatever's changed to make your job unhealthy may well change again before too long; and you might find the changes you've made to your personal vitality give you a whole new outlook. Your next job may end up being the one you have right now.

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Article Tags: health habits, health wealth and happiness, personal responsibility, successful entrepreneurs



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