I get a lot of jokes via email. Most people who spend time on the computer get them. If the joke is a good one, my criteria for forwarding is: it must make me laugh out loud. If it does, I forward it to a select few who appreciate my quirky sense of humor. Most jokes, I just delete. I rarely respond unless it is especially bad, then I comment on that quality, mostly I roll my eyes, delete it, and do not respond.

There is one friend however, that is my exception. His name is Eddie. His jokes are usually pretty good and today, his message resonated with me enough to blog about it. Today’s email was one of those message emails that talk about friendship. It was vaguely corny however; there was an addendum that prompts me to write about it today.

The following was the last few lines of the fairly bad story. I have omitted the story but here are the last few lines of the email.

“Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word.

Maybe this will explain.

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward jokes.

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.

When you have something to say, but don’t know what, and don’t know how, you forward jokes.

Also to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded joke.

So, next time if you get a joke, don’t think that you’ve been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you’ve been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile.”

As somebody who believes strongly in the power of networking but is a hopeless introvert; each networking event I attend is anxiety producing. I have to tell you this thought struck a chord. What if at the beginning of each joke you forward you simply said, thought you would get a kick out of this? Or thought of you when I read this, bet you laugh too-a short one-liner that personalized the email a little.

It might be easier to stay connected rather than writing a lengthy email, or meeting face to face and it can keep the relationship alive.

So, the next time you get a forwarded joke, know that someone thought of you as a person who might appreciate the humor, who thought of you enough to send a smile along, who thought of you and wanted to let you know she wanted to keep the relationship alive.

Networking is all about relationships and keeping them nourished and nurtured to keep them alive. Relationships take the time most of us don’t have. Everybody is busy, just ask people if they have time and they will tell you they don’t.

Here is a simple way to keep a relationship alive, to communicate briefly. Sometimes that is all you really need to do. Remember when you are looking for a job, a referral or simply a connection and you need a relationship it is usually too late to build one.

Keep building your relationships in ways that can work for you, this is just one way.

You have a job, lucky you.

Did you ever have a job where you liked every single thing you had to do? I mean every single thing? Probably not, neither have I.

Aren’t some of the things you have to do de-motivating? Like all that paper work? How many times have you heard I love the customers, people I work with, the place I work, but the paperwork can make me nuts!

Well, you get the idea. Is what you hate doing in your job right enough to make you quit? Is finding a new job the answer? In this economy quitting is very risky business. And you will never find a job, where you love every single thing about it. Here is what you have to do…….Figure out a way to tackle what you hate doing, the work you would do anything to avoid, stop avoiding it and try these simple tricks.

Think this way, this is a self-talk exercise. Instead of saying to yourself, I hate doing it, I can’t. Say I can do it. Your motivation will rise and doing the task won’t seem so bad.

Be realistic, have realistic expectations for yourself. If you have low motivation, you will not enjoy the task, you will use more energy, it will take you longer, and somebody who loves exactly what you hate will do it faster. Don’t compare your productivity to someone else.

Again, being realistic. Is competent good enough for you? Do you want to be competent or superior? Do you hate the task enough not to get additional training or more supervision to become a superior performer?
If you feel strongly enough, this may be compromising your next review, do you hate it that much?

Can you reassign this task? Give it to somebody who likes doing it? Can you trade tasks with him? Probably not but it’s a thought.

What about partnering with a co-worker, doing something she hates so she’ll do something you hate. Also an option but probably unlikely to happen.

Create a system or use a tool to make the job at hand a little easier. We have a client who is very creative but, like most people, hates the paper work and writing down his good ideas. Now he carries a pocket tape recorder. When he has a good idea, he just talks about and figures out how to use it or not, later.

And of course, you can always ask for a re-assignment. One of our clients, a successful project manager, was floundering in his new role leading a project for new products in a startup company. Our client needed structure and methodical procedures. Start-ups are notorious for a lack of structure and organization. This was simply not a good mix. Fortunately, he was a contract employee who worked for a project management company. He got the re-assignment.

Just remember, very few people love everything they do and are motivated by all the tasks of the job. Most aren’t. However, acknowledging you may not be as motivated to do one thing, as you are to do something else, is the first step in figuring out a way to get all your work done the best way you know how. It is the first step to a superior performance review and to being successful in the job you have. Again, lucky you, you are working.