WorkLore

In a great conversation last month, a colleague and I agreed that all the little work that needs to be done, those unpleasant tasks that no one really wants to do…

… shouldn’t have to suck.

You’re probably thinking, they shouldn’t, but these things still do, so there’s nothing I can do about it. 

But when we reframe our perspective, the things that suck don’t have to. Or at least, they don’t have to suck as much. 

Through a combination of an error in judgment and bad faith, at the end of a relationship I ended up with debt that was supposed to be shared. My partner got the benefits, but I ended up with the debt. It was just north of six figures, which was a significant burden. 

Each month I wrote a cheque (I know!) for the payment, and most of the time I felt bitter and angry afterwards. It didn’t feel fair that money I earned was going to someone who had broken faith with me. It sucked. 

But then I was in a course that talked about reframing events to provide a new perspective and change how we showed up for them. So I gave it a try. 

The next month when I wrote that cheque, I thought “I am someone who is honourable and I pay my debts no matter how they came to me.” 

And it sucked less. 

By reframing paying that debt as honouring an obligation to the lender who I was in debt to, rather than seeing it as an unfair burden placed on me by someone else, it sucked less. 

It didn’t stop sucking, but it sucked less. 

It’s not an easy thing, this reframing, and I sometimes still fail at it. But for me in that moment, and each month after, it made things better. 

I’d invite you to think if there’s something in your life you could reframe so it doesn’t suck so much. It’s a pretty powerful mind shift when you can.