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If you liked our collection of memes about work, then I think you're going to love this Instagram account too.

Aptly titled "Work memes", it also shares jokes about the misery of having to work our lives away. Just not in the soul-crushing way that makes you want to run into a wall, no, the jokes are more light-hearted.

Think of Sisyphus, who acknowledges the futility of his task to push a boulder up a mountain just for it to roll down. Since Sisyphus understands the certainty of his fate, he is freed to realize the absurdity of the situation and to reach a state of contented acceptance.

Now imagine if he had an Instagram account. That's pretty much what "Work memes" looks like!

More info: Instagram

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DUN DUN (she/her)
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Those ideas will pop at 2 am, or in the shower and go *poof!* when you need them

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Sue Lynn Chan
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they allow me to visualize it ( aka draw it out), I would have been so happy.

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Margaret Martin
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is just like me... trying to explain to the City I live in- I "registered" my unit "UN-Occupied" & told the young lady at the register's office that "This 'unit' will stay UNOCCUPIED & used for storage- until we can afford to have everything that makes it a 'unit' removed." WHY should I have to pay "Non-Owner Occupied/ Owner-Occupied" Fees on an UNOCCUPIED UNIT? I mean, really; WTF?!

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Maybe you too are having these feelings at thoughts. Maybe it was some event that triggered them inside you, or maybe it has been a slow and gradual process, but now you find yourself with very little of the motivation you used to have for your work and career. And it’s a tricky spot to be in.

Sometimes even admitting the fact that you relate to such memes feels like exposing a secret as our culture values drive and ambition.

However, according to career change expert Sara Young Wang, what we call motivation can actually be a harmful concept. And you losing it can be an opportunity to see this and open the door for change. "There is something else much more sane, sustainable and nourishing to orient one's life; a real motivation that isn’t even motivation at all," she wrote in Forbes.

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Eppe
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And you've been warning everyone this was about to happen and no-one listened.

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"Before 2015, I lived my life with a ton of motivation driving me," Sara Young Wang said. "It got me up every morning and propelled my day. I worked hard and gave 'success' my all. Rest and enjoyment of life were a distant consideration or something that would only come in the future. It was exhausting. So much so that I completely burnt myself out. By the end of grad school and three jobs later I crashed."

Sara then took a look at what all that motivation was really about—fear. "From speaking with my coaching clients I can see that's the energy behind many people's motivation in their work. To say, 'I'm motivated' can often really mean, 'I'm afraid and I'm going to work hard to get this thing I think I need to be safe.'" 

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Personally, Sara was generating all of her energy to work hard, strive and succeed from fear that she's not good enough if she doesn't make something important and successful of herself.

"I didn't have any genuine desire to do the things I was doing in my life. I was only doing them so I could meet the need of proving my worth through names on a resume or accomplishments," Sara explained. "There was no authentic desire underpinning the motivation to get up every day, just a ton of fear."

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Maybe you don't think of it in terms of proving yourself. Maybe it’s a level of wealth you think will make you feel safe. Or maybe it's achieving something you think will finally win you your parents' approval.

"It could be any number of things, but I bet if you look there's some fear there that has been providing the fuel to your past motivation," Sara said. "And while your motivation may be waning now from sheer exhaustion, that fear is likely still there and creating panic that you need to get your drive back ASAP. But, you just can't. And that's an invitation to look directly at the fear."

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Kyra ALIMIN [4A]
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But seeing your least favorite be like * quickly gathers up and shuffles to the meeting room* "Oh sorry! I'm really busy right now."

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Mama Penguin
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That cat is like, "Yes, I posted all of that. Whatchu gonna do about it, Susan?"

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Sara believes the fear is probably lying to you and making you deny yourself for delayed rewards that actually never come.

"First, look closely at what your fear is telling you. What is it saying you need to be or get? What does it say the consequences for failure are? Fear is more often than not, lying to you. [Try to see that] your thinking is not necessarily accurate. For me, the truth is that I already am enough. We are all already enough. No proving is ever required," she said.

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"Next, look at what your fear has been getting you to do and the lengths it's been getting you to go. There's usually an inner narrative that says something like, 'I need to sacrifice myself, deny my needs, my genuine desires, my enjoyment of life for the future reward, for the thing I need to feel safe.'" 

But the thing is, according to Sara, the future you’re hoping for never actually comes. Even if you hit the mark, get the promotion, the job title, even the raise, you never really palm the feeling of security you're so desperately chasing. "The target just moves further out," she said. "The fatigue from this hamster wheel is part of the burnout." 

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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is sooo relatable. Therefore, try to work at home for a few days a week. Then it is only the related idiots...

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Grayson Wrigley
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Winter: It's too cold to work. Summer: It's too hot to work. Spring & Fall: IT'S TOO NICE OUT TO WORK 😭😭

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"As I hit a wall I realized that no amount of 'success' would make me 'enough.' There's always the next hoop to jump, there would be no end to this and to the sacrificing of the enjoyment of my life. No future rest, and no feeling of safety, ever. Yes, the burnout was demotivating, but what really pulled the linchpin out of me was seeing all this false logic I was basing my life on."

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But the beauty is that by recognizing the lies and false logic we've been following we can reclaim our life back from a lifetime of forced striving.

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Flopsy
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless you have kids and then you count the hours until you can work in peace!

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Hannah Edwards
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When this started happening to me I got a different job. It was either that or go mad from boredom

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C. Wade
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2 years ago

Yeah, mine is in the right hand.

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Nathaniel
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Anyone else wish they had an unknown Uncle who happened to be rich and decided to leave all his money to you the unknown nephew/niece?

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We have to shift from fear to enjoyment. "If we're not going to move from fear anymore, what else can we move from? We've got to connect with the genuine desire that has been lacking. We can stop forcing ourselves to do things that are a means to an illusionary end and start doing things that fulfill our desires in the present moment," Sara Young Wang explained. "You don't need motivation when you've got enjoyment under your sails." 

"The inner narrative can instead say, 'I'm excited to do this thing today because I genuinely want to for the sake of itself. And it will be immediately rewarding to do because it brings me enjoyment and satisfaction while I’m doing it.'"

There is no promise of a delayed reward for your sacrifice because there is no sacrifice to begin with. "It’s a much more sane, sustainable, and fulfilling way to live," Sara said. "You could say you're now motivated by the enjoyment, but usually, when we speak of doing things we like to do we don’t think of it in terms of motivation—we would never say 'I’m motivated to pet my dog.' You just do it because it feels good, it’s a natural and genuine movement for you to do. There’s something actually in it for you, as opposed to 'motivation' where there’s really nothing directly nourishing in it. You’re just doing it because of the mental narrative that someday it will pay off."

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NsG
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just missing the bit where he willingly walks off the boat.

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DAISY
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mother use to say a lot when I neede to go somewhere and running behind that "I 'm going to be late to my own funera"l!😀

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Bottom line is, we have to stop denying ourselves and start honoring who we are, what we like, and what we’re naturally drawn toward, and how we want to spend our days. "You drop the shoulds, you drop the false fear-based storylines and instead of letting them push your desires aside, they come to be front and center. They’re the guide to what kind of work is going to feel good to you and get you excited to do," Sara said.

Think of what authentically feels good to you. The things that need to change for you to experience joy. Maybe you need to change jobs, change careers, change the nature of the work you're doing in your industry, shift the clients you work with. "You know best what you need to find that alignment, to find that spark. I'm just giving you the nudge to value it more and start looking for it," Sara said. That's what you’re wanting to find, not 'motivation.' And maybe the ability to relate to these memes is an indicator of that.

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Nathaniel
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Colin. His name is Colin. He arranges the Church socials. You know he does. And sings earnest songs whilst badly strumming his guitar. He does this at Christmas, at work, as a treat for his colleagues.

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Trisha Howson
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My husband aways like why did you say yes.......um kinda caught me off guard an I need the money. When I'm working the shift:why didn't I listen to my f*****g husband this blows

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