Since Chris has switched jobs back to his old position with his other group, I can see a huge improvement in his mood and his self esteem.

How much energy do we put into our work? I would say that most people place a good majority of their energy into their work. I guess that's proportionate with how much of our time we spend at work? I'm not sure. But, while Chris was working on a project that didn't really use his abilities, he felt that his time spent was pointless. He felt he didn't contribute to the "greater good" at work, and he was so frustrated.

Now that he feels like he's contributing something, his demeanor is different. He doesn't come home angry or frustrated because of the work that he's doing. He might come home angry and frustrated for some other reason, but not because of work!

I can also take this concept and apply it to myself, and how a toxic work environment can alter your entire outlook. While working with the kids at the daycare, I enjoyed working with the kids for sure, but the work environment was so negative because of the people I was surrounded by, and that morphed into the rest of my life and changed my entire outlook on everything. I can tell a change in myself since leaving the daycare. I can tell that having a positive work environment has made me a more positive person. Yeah, people as a whole suck, and serving them coffee and lattes can get really monotonous, but as a rule, the people are nice and genuine. My coworkers are all really great and while we may have negative moments, we have a good time together.

So, we're working for the "man", for a huge corporation, but it's also #6 on the Forbes 100 best places to work.