85% of employees are not engaged or actively disengaged at work.  This is according to Gallup’s  State of the Global Workplace report.

Are you in the 85% or the 15%?  For some of you it’s obvious that you’re either engaged or disengaged.  For the rest us, we need more clarification on engagement.  According to Gallup:

Engaged employees are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work. They are psychological “owners,” drive performance and innovation, and move the organization forward.

In addition, Gallup measures the following 12 factors to determine engagement:

1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing
   good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as
   a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job
   is important.
9. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing
   quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about
    my progress.
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow

By definition, chances are you are in the 85%. So this begs the question: Why?

Why do we as humans choose to:

• Stay in situations that make us unhappy?
• Let external circumstances dictate internal realities?
• Live in the past and future instead of living in the present?

I know there are no universal answers to these questions.  However, I took 5 minutes to Google each one of those questions.  I came across dozens of “how to” articles that lead you to believe you can follow a step by step process to resolve these problems.  I call B.S. on all of them.

My experience has led me to believe the most difficult muscle to intentionally train is our mind.  Our mind is literally under attack at any given moment.  This unintentionally shapes our thoughts in undesirable ways. Therefore, the only way to address anything dealing with mentality and emotions requires a metaphysical or spiritual solution applied over many months.

If you are in the 85%, you are literally wasting your life if you are unhappy, disengaged, or unfulfilled by the work you spend the majority of your day doing.  One of my favorite quotes that illustrates this point is:

What you do today is important, because you are trading a day of your life for it ~ Dan Millman

As a result, if you continue to trade the days of your life for disengaged work, you are giving away your most valuable resource.   TIME.

Obviously, I’m not in a position to tell you what metaphysical or spiritual solution you should apply to address your career situation. However, if you are in the 85% and you value your time here on this earth, it is clear that you can’t afford to put off taking action any longer.