Let me make the process of figuring out happiness in your job a bit easier.
Because I don’t want you to head down the wrong path and waste many late nights analyzing and searching.
Time you could be spending having more than a “how was work?” conversation with your spouse.
Time you could be finishing the last book in a good series.
Time you could be getting to bed at a decent hour and feeling rested for tomorrow.
You ready? Here is the truth…
Jobs don’t make people happy.
Your thoughts about your job are what make you happy.
If your brain is asking, “will this new job really make me happy?”
The answer is NO.
Because jobs don’t make people feel anything.
Two people can be in exactly the same job, with exactly the same company, with the same exact boss…and one loves what they do and the other hates it. Why? It’s not the job, it’s the way they think about the job.
This is a very important concept to understand when you want to create happiness in your career.
You do not have full control over every aspect of your job. You have a boss, a company, co-workers, job duties & clients that play a part in what you do.
So, if you are hoping that your next job will be the ticket to your happiness, then you are putting control of your happiness into the hands of something other than you.
And that is not where I want you to put control.
Here is what you need to do.
Reframe the question, will this job make me happy? To something more useful…
Will happiness come easily to me in this job?
Notice the difference?
I want you to be thinking about what things make happiness easier. What things make you come alive in your job? What brings natural energy?
➡️ What kind of job duties?
➡️ What kind of work environment?
➡️ What kind of projects?
➡️ What kind of boss?
When you know the answers to these questions, you will know what it is you are looking for in a new job and it can act as a checklist.
And when you go looking for a job to meet these criteria, and you find one, then you can know with certainty that you will be happy.
Action Step:
Spend 10 minutes answering the 4 questions listed above. Be as specific as possible. If you get stuck, think of times in your job that you felt truly energized by the work. Analyze these situations and make a list of why they energized you.
