​In research conducted among hospital custodians by Amy Wrzesniewski of the Yale School of Management, she found two different groups of workers: the majority who saw their job as a "dirty job" that was necessary to earn an income, and a small group who saw it as something more.

Way more.

To the point that one custodian saw herself as a "healer," someone who creates a clean and sterile environment that inspires patients and encourages healing.

Wow.

What was the difference between the two? Their mindset, their approach to work and, you guessed it, the outcomes they achieved.

This made me think: how do you see you work? Are you "just" a teacher? An administrator? A dean or manager or secretary?

I know I'm more than a consultant. I'm a "maximizer of human potential," and that makes all the difference in the way I approach my work.

The custodian example came from this powerful article about one of my favorite topics: job crafting. In job crafting, you do the same tasks but in a different way, changing either the process, the people you interact with, or the way you see the task altogether. The end results are higher satisfaction and more meaning, and often better outcomes.

Instead of seeing bus duty as "getting kids on the bus in an orderly fashion" you approach it as a competition, an opportunity to build relationships, or an experiment to test out different methods on a daily basis for streamlining the process. The buses don't change, nor do the students. But the task takes on new meaning, thereby increasing your engagement and, often, the satisfaction of the constituents involved.

You could simply attend your meetings, or you could use them as an opportunity to practice reading nonverbal cues, tracking them on a separate sheet of paper to increase your emotional intelligence. You could be intentional about who you sit next to, and make it your mission to learn more about them and develop trust. Or you could practice listening empathically. Suddenly, meetings are more than a duty.

Job crafting is the key to loving your work without having to leave it.

See, most people I coach believe there is something better "out there" than what's right in front of them. Sometimes that's true. But often, like most of the time, what's needed is a mindset shift -- a RESET.

Last March, I wrote "RESET: How to Get Paid and Love What You Do" and people mistakenly took it for a book about changing careers.

My bad.

It's definitely that, but it's more than that. It's about the concept of reframing your work and approaching it from a new angle that incorporates your greatest asset -- YOU. It's about getting clear about who you are and bringing that to what you do, and reaping the rewards of congruence.

So change the way you approach your work and take control of your satisfaction. Here are the first basic steps:

1. Pick a task.
2. Explore how you could reframe it in one of three ways:

• Task Crafting (changing the activities involved in your job by taking on more or fewer tasks, expanding or diminishing the scope of tasks, or altering the way you perform tasks.)
• Relational Crafting (changing the extent or nature of your interactions with other people. Altering who you do it with, to, or for.)
• Cognitive Crafting (changing the way you think about the purpose of tasks, relationships, or the job as a whole.)

3. Test it out. What was the outcome?

If you want to take your job crafting to ninja level, create a Profile of Self and figure out how to weave your values, strengths, and environments into formerly mundane or monotonous tasks.

My guess is you'll find greater satisfaction from simply attempting to job craft.

From the article: "Whatever your disposition, actively working to hone your job into something nearer to your heart can increase satisfaction at work."

Influence is the currency we use to get stuff done. Here's how to develop it.

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How does investing work? Research shows that those who invest consistently in the short-term will reap long-term gains from their stock investments as a result of compound investing. Do a little every month and let it build over time and a few dollars turns into a gazillion dollars when I retire. Seems like an obvious principle of saving, right?

The same is true of exercise. Those who exercise consistently and put in a little effort daily will reap long-term benefits of better health. Some studies say 20 minutes of activity a day can have a positive effect in the long-run on your heart and greatly reduce the risk of life-ending disease.

Education works this way as well. We invest heavily in our children now so that in the long-term they can be productive, contributing members of society. Educate them daily and consistently and when they're 40 and no longer required to be in school they will ideally be a value-add to the world.

It turns out that leadership training is built on this same principle. Spending a little time each day improving yourself as a leader has serious long-term implications for those you lead. It's a short-term investment for a long-term gain.

I came to this realization as I was dying on my run this morning: Almost anything that matters in life is all about short-term sacrifice for long-term gain. Sacrifice now to have more later. As Dave Ramsey says, "Live like no one else now so that you can live like no one else later."

So do something today to improve your leadership. Not sure where to start? Here are a few recommendations:

• Sign up for the Tip of the Day from the Harvard Business Review.
• Read a chapter in a leadership book or magazine.
• Write down your vision for yourself as a leader for the next year.
• Set three goals that you'd like to accomplish this week to take care of yourself.
• Reach out to someone you lead and ask them for feedback.
• Read a leadership blog, like this one, and commit to do something different because of what you read.

Just as with exercise, or investing, or even education, it's not the amount that necessarily matters as much as it is the action and the habit.

Do something different today.