Are you thriving at work?

• Do you spend days or weeks on a project, only to have it sit stagnating in your boss' in-box?
• On Sunday nights, do you dread going back to work?
• Do your ideas get dismissed offhand?
• Do you find yourself dragging into work late?
• Do you feel unappreciated and disengaged?
• Does your position lack a defined career path?
• Do your boss or colleagues take credit for your work?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you are not thriving in your job.

Gallup's study of employee engagement found that a shockingly low 33 percent of U.S. employees are engaged in their work.

Twenty-seven years ago, I gave birth to my first child extremely prematurely. Weighing one pound, six ounces, Christopher was frail, tiny, and sick. He stayed in the NICU for 117 days, and we learned to appreciate life and our supportive community. After starting out so tiny, Chris struggled to gain weight after coming home. We constantly feared he would be labeled with the dreaded "failure to thrive," a medical term for babies who don't gain weight as expected. (Fortunately, my grown son loves to eat and is a walking, talking miracle!)

Thriving = growth. Are you growing in your job?

As a natural optimist, I've found myself staying with a company longer than I should, even though I'd stopped thriving.

Failure to thrive warning signs

Several years ago one of my high-performing managers began arriving late at work. She was responsible for client service and managing a team, so her presence in the office was important. When I checked in to ask if everything was okay, she burst into tears. Even though she liked the work and the team, the environment was just not working for her and she couldn't articulate the problem until I asked her about it. She soon found a new job.

When I managed a large Publications group and employees seemed dissatisfied, I asked them, "Are you happy in your job more than 50 percent of the time?" If they answered no, I told them we either needed to find a way to fix that or they should find a new position. Life is too short!

This 50 percent question can raise a red flag, but it's not always a reliable indicator of thriving. I could have answered "yes" to that question throughout most of my career, even when I was not thriving on fertile ground.

Finding Fertile Ground

When I began thinking about what kind of environment I wanted in my next chapter, the phrase "fertile ground" came to me. I've had wonderful opportunities in my career to do great work with exceedingly talented people. I've rarely been bored.

As a creative ideator and a natural leader, I know my best work comes when I have freedom, autonomy, challenges, appreciation, and support.

Five years ago my beloved brother-in-law, the healthiest person I know, was diagnosed with throat cancer. He had dedicated his life to teaching adaptive PE to special ed kids, while raising his own three amazing sons and being an incredible husband to my sister. He is now cancer free but continues to deal with the ravages of the extreme cancer treatment (a feeding tube, constant mucus and coughing, etc.). He went to a doctor's appointment on his 65th birthday and learned his life was about to change dramatically. Talk about a wakeup call!

How can we waste our time, not living our fullest life, when it can all change in a day? I have some thoughts!

Assess your garden plot

If you've determined you cannot grow or thrive where you are, consider your options:

1. Look around in your organization--can you do something different?

Do other positions look interesting? Do you need more challenges? One of my proudest management successes was coaching and supporting countless employees who wanted to stretch their wings and become something new...document publishing operators who turned into proposal coordinators, reprographic operators who turned into graphic designers, technical editors who turned into proposal managers, and the biggest one of all...a technical writer/editor who eventually became our company's global sustainability director, and my boss for a while! If you're not working in a place that encourages growth and advancement, it will be impossible to thrive there.

2. Talk to your boss and coworkers.

Ask for advice and feedback on your strengths. Tell them you're looking for opportunities. Maybe a few tweaks in your position or responsibilities will make a huge difference in your job satisfaction. Maybe your boss needs to know you don't feel supported and empowered. And if you are not in a space where you can talk to your boss, that's a huge red flag.

Unsupportive boss = no thriving possible.

3. Assess your organization's culture.

Is it possible to thrive there? Does the organization have strong leadership, from the top all the way down? Do they embrace your ideas and allow you to follow through on them? Do you feel appreciated? Do they refuse to allow toxic behavior in employees? Do they actually walk their talk (what they tout on their website or mission and values)? Sometimes it's harder to see problems in culture than in our actual jobs.

4. If you're not ready, set a deadline.

In the large company where I worked much of my career, the HR professionals were feeling devalued when the company revamped their organization. One coworker gave herself a deadline (Bastille Day!) to see if things would improve. They did not, so she quit on Basque Day and found another job.

5. If you cannot find a way to bloom where you are planted, move on.

Over your lifetime, you'll spend an average of 13 years and 2 months at work, according to HuffPost Australia, versus only 328 days socializing with your friends. Life is simply too short to spend your 13 years and 2 months in a place where you're dissatisfied, unappreciated, and failing to thrive. A former coworker said, "all companies are like this." I simply refuse to believe that.

If you're not thriving, start looking for a new employer or vocation. Find your fertile ground.

6. If you're stuck, find someone to help you.

A career coach, counselor, or wise friend can help you find your path. One of my friends felt stressed and suffocated as an elementary school teacher, so she gathered a circle of seasoned women to her house one evening to guide her through her decision. She left teaching and has reinvented herself once more as a high-performing project manager.

Finding fertile ground can be terrifying. It might require faith and hope and fortitude. It might shake your sense of security to its core. But in the end, you will grow.

The wise Mary Oliver knew about fertile ground:

"Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Mary probably headed right out to her garden after writing that. Find your fertile ground!

Let me know?how I can help you with communications, marketing, or leadership.

I help purpose-driven professional services firms and organizations avoid BORING and boost employee engagement, productivity, and readership. I translate technical, complex, and lackluster language into accessible, dynamic, story-driven text.

Fertile Ground Communications LLC?is a certified woman-owned business enterprise, disadvantaged business enterprise, and emerging small business.