Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Used to be my motto. Act happy until you are happy.
I used to work in the kitchen at a ski hill. My assistant manager, who was 19 years old, would walk around in his Hugo Boss suit or argyle sweater vest, barking (meh, yather yipping) orders at people. “Hey, Eve, clean up these fries on the floor” to which I would reply that I would, I’d just go get the broom etc and he’d stamp his little Oxford and say “I said now” with his hands on his hip and then he’d slide into one of the plastic chairs like he was one of those rich guys leaning back in a cigar lounge making great big deals and sip on his free fountain pop like it was the richest whisky in the world. Oh boy, he was in training to be the biggest tycoon that ski hill would ever see, you could tell. Then he’d try to flirt with ski bunnies who were not at all impressed as they all watched me on my hands and knees picking up fries that had spilled because he wouldn’t let me go get a broom and waste basket.
It wasn’t long before his little suits smelled greasy like the rest of us. He did not, in fact, become a world-class business tycoon. He didn’t end up running the ski hill in his 5-year plan. He wasn’t a boss; he was an overdressed brat who didn’t take a management course and got the job because his dad called in a favour. His dad had a yearly membership at the ‘ski plaza’ that was a half-a-day drive away from real mountains in a shabby little valley in the prairies.
I feel a lot of us North Americans have been raised to apply that “Dress for the Job You want” mindset to everything, but, like my wanna-be boss, don’t necessarily put in the work required to get the job we’re dressing up for. It becomes more of a costume than reality, and it gets applied to all of life. Going through a hard time? Well, just act like you aren’t, and eventually, when things get better (if they get better), no one will know the difference. PMA, like and follow, my life is rad. Woo hoo! It actually doesn’t work that way. You gotta put in the work, educate yourself and actively try to fix your situation, don’t just dress up.
So what about that person on their hands and knees picking up the fries while people watched? They turned out okay. Embarassing work builds character. Hard work makes other things in life seem easier in comparison. It’s all an end to a means.
Now I take more of a scientific approach to negative feelings. What issue is causing the negative feelings? Can we source out an alternate method or direction to change what is causing the negative feelings? Do we need to learn to accept this new situation, or do we need to plan a timeline of acceptance for these negative feelings? Example, I’m down. Why? Oh, because I’ve been going to work before it gets light and coming home after it’s dark. I’m likely low on Vitamin D, so I’ll grab some from the grocery store. I can accept that I’ll see the sun again in a few weeks, and I’ll get a ‘sun’ lamp for my office because this is a situation I cannot change. Or perhaps something deeper, but that was a quick example.
It generally works for me.
Eve Di Potenza 
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