For companies, the costs of employees being unhappy at work are heavy and equates to billions of dollars in lost productivity. For the people who are disengaged and not happy at work, this is nothing short of life stifling. Most of us spend more than half of our waking hours working or doing work-related activities. That we are anything less than fulfilled is championing mediocrity and cheating ourselves out of our best possible lives.

Although this might sound like doom and gloom, don’t fret! If you constantly find yourself saying, “I am so unhappy at work,” there are solutions. In fact, there is a simple strategy and accompanying framework that can get you out of the doldrums and into the career you’ve always wanted.
Strategy
A much more effective strategy is planting your flag. This requires taking a few steps back and asking some critical questions including, “How do I want to be in the world?” “What do I want to create?” “How do I want to use my life?” “What kind of impact do I want to have?” You also need to take a look at what drives you. When you have a true purpose behind your decisions, you can align them with your values and ensure that you are always moving in a direction that will fulfill you.
Framework

How do you build what you’ve designed and how do you use this to ensure you will never be unhappy at work?

The three-part moonshot strategy to creating a fulfilling career is the same every single time you decide to embark on the journey. It works whether you’d like a promotion at your current job, would like to do the same thing at a different company down the road or if you want to quit investment banking and go sell baskets in the rainforest. Basically, it can be recreated to fit any purpose and is the perfect solution to being not happy at work.

Commit

Truly committing to creating a more fulfilling career is the crucial first step. Commitment can come proactively by listening to that quiet voice in your head that asks, “Is this all there is? Could there be something more?” Once you’ve identified your purpose and drive, these decisions usually come much easier. If your current job does not align with your values, you’ll always be unhappy at work. Identifying this as the reason will help you commit to something new.