Rankwinz

Happiness at work

Change the way you think to be happy at work.

Happiness at work is an emotion – an internal state. You feel it or you don’t. In any case, it’s inside of you. While it is certainly affected by what goes on around you (like when some inconsiderate jerk takes the last coffee and doesn’t make a new pot) it mostly relies on what goes on inside your head. The old “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it” applies here as well.

And that’s why we must change our thinking about work. There are some traditional perceptions, ideas and maxims that are holding us back from achieving truly fulfilling and happy work lives. Many people and workplaces focus all their efforts on changing the external circumstances at work – stuff like salaries, bonuses, promotions, careers, perks, etc…

So we need to pay more attention to our internal mental processes around happiness at work and change our thinking on some key points.

Here are the most important ones:

From “Work is tough” to “Work is fun”

For the last 200 years, all through the industrial age, work has been perceived as tough, unpleasant and hard. In fact, that’s why we get paid. And for most of the industrial age, this was mostly true, with many jobs being hard, boring or even dangerous.

Today, this is less and less so and there are many, many more interesting, creative, fun, pleasant and happy workplaces to choose from. But none of this will matter if we go on expecting work to be hard and rough – for the simple fact that we tend to get what we expect. Therefore we must change our thinking, and start expecting work to be fun.

From “You can’t be happy and successful” to “You can only be really successful if you’re happy”

What is business success worth, if you’re not happy? I have seen successful business people break down crying over the realization that they have wasted large parts of their lives chasing money, fame and success - while never being happy themselves. It makes zero sense to sacrifice your happiness at work for success. It’s just not worth it.

From “Success requires hard work” to “Success requires happiness”

Interestingly, you don’t need to give up on success in order to be happy. Studies show that happy people are more likely to be successful! Which is hardly surprising when you remember that people who are happy at work are also more motivated, energetic, likable, creative and productive.

From “Happiness at work is nearly impossible” to “Happiness at work is easy”

Everything we need to create happy workplaces is easy to get and readily available to almost any workplace in the world. It’s not about budgets, mission statements, strategies or corporate policies. Happiness at work comes from the simple things. From the things “you and I do here and now”. Anyone can do it!

From “Happiness at work is trivial” to “Happiness at work is crucial”

Happiness at work is not a trivial little detail that we can leave to an overworked HR department to maybe do something about. It’s not a side issue to address once you’ve achieved the right salary, title and company car. Happiness at work is crucial to your health, success and general happiness in life and it’s the #1 factor that drives corporate success.

That’s why happiness at work needs to be at the very top of our priorities - both for employees and businesses. So considering the fact that happiness at work is crucial, easy and really, really good for you… My question is: Are you happy or unhappy at work? Is your workplace happy or unhappy? How does this affect you? And if your workplace is not happy, what would be different if you and most of your co-workers liked your jobs so much that you looked forward to going to work almost every morning? What would that do for you and for the company?