by Anne Hartley

I absolutely loved the first full-time job I had after leaving school and drove my family and friends crazy talking about my work all of the time. A couple of years later I left that job looking for more experience and I expected to enjoy my next job just as much. I didn't. Over the next two decades I had some jobs that I loved and some I put up with because, like most people, I had no idea of what made me happy at work.

Feeling discontented at work presents us with a number of opportunities. We have the opportunity to understand our own needs, to be aware of any rules or beliefs that are holding us back and we have the opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive.

Sometimes it is easy to associate discontent at work with the actual work you do, when the real problem may be the people you work with, the environment you work in or the ethics of the business you work for. Whenever you say you want to do work you love, what you are really saying is you want a feeling. So in order to determine your work values you need to determine what feelings are most important to you in the workplace.

Understanding your work values

There are four categories of work values that most people fit into. These are relationships, personal values, work content and environment. Usually one or two of these values is most important to you.

Relationships. People who value relationships at work have many choices because what they gain from going to work has very little to do with the actual work they do. What's most important to them is companionship, camaraderie and social interaction with others. As long as they enjoy the company of the people they come in contact with at work, then they have a vast array of career choices.

Personal values. People whose personal values are their highest priority need to be very careful about who they work for. For instance, if their employer's ethics clashed with theirs they would experience constant conflict. If they worked for an employer whose business harmed the environment in some way and they valued the environment, then they would be unhappy. The actual work they do is not as important as the ethics of the people they work with. People who want to make a difference through their work usually fit into this category.

Work Content. People who value their work content are often the most passionate about the actual job they do and know what they want from a very young age. Nicole Kidman and Delta Goodrem most likely fit into this category.

Work environment. For some people, where they work is vitally important. Some people hate to be cooped up inside a building all day. For them being able to work outdoors is more important than anything else. Conversely, someone else may hate the idea of working outside in all types of weather and may value working inside in an aesthetically pleasing environment.

Knowing and understanding what you value at work provides you with more choices and ensures you will be happy with the choices you make.

About the Author

Anne Hartley is a life coach and author of several books. Anne also offers online courses as well as email and phone coaching.