Most people have jobs that require working with people. So what’s so distressing about dealing with people? At least for the business proprietor, the level of customer support our hard earned customers receive relies on the mental state our workers are in on any specific day.

Phone me on the day I’m going to pick up my new car: “Good morning, it’s a fantastic day at Polly’s Pet World! What can I assist you with today?” But call me when I’m hormonal and just found a hair on my chin: “Polly’s Pet World. Yeah, we sell puppies. What gave it away? The enormous letters on the side of our building that spelled out PETS?”

Catch me on Friday afternoon, and I’m just giddy to do my part, bend over backwards, and make your clients love your business. However, turn up at my desk first thing Monday morning after a weekend bender in honor of Johnny Walker, and I’m probably gonna  become physically violent,  collapse in tears, and after that roll-up in the corner in the fetal position.

Good thing I’m not employed in the ER. At the beginning of my work day, I am going to work heroically (like a TV ER doctor) to bring back the dismembered Teddy Bear brought in with the kid afflicted with a splinter. Find me at the end of my day, before I’m heading out for my cruise vacation, and I get a seriously bad occurence of blinders for the most severe cases.

Our frame of mind affects whether we see our workplace as enjoyable, or basically hell with fluorescent lighting. Surprisingly, the amount we achieve is linked with our mood and how we handle our clients. Of course, that’s typical motivational speaker talk, but it is still true. Yet so many people expect external factors to determine our state of mind. We wait around on circumstances or others to determine whether you will see us smiling, or wearing horns and flicking out a forked tongue. Life will invariably have it’s hard times and individuals who are hard to cope with. You can’t wait for them to make you happy. You are accountable for your frame of mind. Period. You decide whether to see your workplace as an enjoyable place or as merely hell with fluorescent lighting. Your achievement depends on it.