Feeling undervalued? Here's what to do. (B) What to do when co-workers don't appreciate your value

Raise your hand if you've every felt any of these feels:

• "No one ever acknowledges the hard work I put in."

  
  

• "It's like everything I do goes unnoticed and unappreciated."

  
  

• "My work never seems to matter to anyone."

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"It feels like I'm invisible at work."

This is an email, so of course I can't actually tell if your hand is raised. But it probably should be. Because almost all of us have felt this way at some point, if not often. (These kinds of thoughts are fuel for soulcrushers, by the way. They feast on it.)

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It's hard to enjoy our work when we feel this way, naturally. But there's a surefire solution — and it isn't used nearly often enough.

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The problem with all of the thought statements above is that this thinking cedes control of our feelings and energy to other people. And those people are busy dealing with their own stuff.

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If people aren't appreciating the value we bring, the most empowering solution is to...

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​Deliver even more value. ​

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Be more proactive. Create solutions to problems nobody else is fixing. Mentor someone. "Manage up" and make our supervisors look brilliant. Share our ideas first. Bring more energy and positivity. Challenge ourselves to do things 15% better than anyone else is doing. Whatever we can think of to bring the value, bring it.

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Imagine the alternative for a sec. Stewing in frustration and doubling down on the status quo (or phoning it in) won't solve the problem — and it makes us weaker.

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Delivering even more value makes us stronger and makes us feel good about ourselves.

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It is very, very difficult to lose with this approach. And yet very, very few people take advantage of it. Most would rather complain and let the soulcrusher infestation remain.

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Let's crush some soulcrushers,

-Tim-