2024-07-29 12:59:26
Repeat this mantra to yourself in moments of crisis and you will feel satisfied, psychologists assure
“The right person” is a special project of “24 hours” about professional success, career growth, personal development, workplace relations, about good practices of employers, about news from the HR sector and management, about the labor market and vacancies .
Everyone has their own idea of happiness. You may feel happy while you spend an hour or two preparing dinner, which the husband and children will soon devour in 10 minutes. It may be when you buy a new pair of pants because you will see the admiration of your beloved. It could be while you are walking with her in the park.
But how many people do you know who are happy because of their job? Probably few will associate happiness with it.
Undoubtedly, it is unfortunate that a person does not have a job, because then he usually lacks money to live on. As psychologist and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman says, “Money doesn’t buy you happiness, but the lack of money certainly buys you unhappiness.” So if this little detail can be arranged, everyone will find completely different things to make them happy. “Laziness is deeply embedded in our nature,” Kahneman adds.
But according to the Nobel Laureate people don’t really strive to be happy exactly. They want to be satisfied and it’s a deeper feeling. Included in it is meaning, which is the driving force when reality has little to do with happiness. For example, children are quite burdensome and even unpleasant at certain times. But they give meaning to life, and one ultimately finds satisfaction in meeting the challenges they face.
Most people are hypocrites when they say that their work brings them happiness. Or they don’t go deep enough into what it is.
What you do 5 days a week for 8 hours at least is unlikely to make you happy. It’s more likely to make you satisfied because it makes some sense to you.
According to a study by Harvard Business School Professor Jan Jachymowicz pursuing career meaning is more likely to bring you sustainability and long-term success, than the pursuit of happiness from work. When things don’t go your way, and they often do, meaning is what will help you get back on your feet and move forward.
What the meaning should be is a difficult question to which everyone finds their own answer.
A good possible answer is that when with your work you also benefit others, you feel more satisfied. When she you helps develop your personality, you also experience satisfaction. Like turn your hobby into a professionthe work never weighs, it becomes a passion and the state even approaches happiness.
But it is not so shameful if he works mostly or only for money. They are usually not meaningful in themselves. Behind them lies something else – the well-being of the family, the children’s education, the trips you love, that car or house you’ve been dreaming of since you were a child.
Naturally, the meaning of work can be more than one. The listed four, for example, sound like complete happiness, although the cliché “There is no such thing as complete happiness” is well known.
When you know what the meaning is, you can go through any trials At work. The Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl has a theory he calls “healing through meaning”. Conveyed briefly, logotherapy statesthat once you are aware of the meaning, it gives you the strength to bear the trouble.
“Life never becomes unbearable because of circumstances, but only because of a lack of meaning and purpose. When a person sees meaning, he can overcome any obstacle,” says Frankl.
You can derive a very practical benefit from scientific theories.
Your boss scolded you or didn’t appreciate your efforts. You feel unhappy. But your point of working is not the bossy praise, so mentally get back to basics and get over your resentment.
You have to solve a complex or unpleasant task. Well, you will work hard because success will bring you money or personal satisfaction. These are two of the meanings of working.
Psychologists assure that if in moments of crisis or fatigue you repeat to yourself as a mantra what is the point of working, you will not be unhappy. What’s more, overcoming obstacles will bring you daily moments of satisfaction, which in turn will make you feel satisfied with your life as a whole.
Notice, however, a subtle difference that the specialists draw. Work is unlikely to make you happy, but it can still make you unhappy, whatever meaning you put into it. Yes, it makes you stronger to overcome troubles and challenges. But if you’re in a toxic environment with an evil boss and incompetent coworkers, if you’re doing something that goes against your integrity, logotherapy (according to Dr. Frankel) doesn’t heal. It will be very difficult to last long and stay healthy, even though you have to earn money for your family, say. And there is one more thing Scientifically proven: You love your work – you live longer.
That’s why very precisely figure out what the meaning-satisfaction-unhappiness ratio is for you. And when you feel too much unhappiness, set a time limit for when you will bear it.
In the meantime, look around to find another place where you will work for your meaning in at least a little more mental comfort.
In “The Right Man” you can read more:
How important is skirt and tie length for a good first impression
As a preacher, prosecutor, politician or scientist, you also think about what gets you ahead at work
The shock of seeing after 10-20 years that you got the profession wrong
Techniques for asking for a promotion without fear of rejection
The impostor syndrome – an insidious virus that most infects the intelligent
A messy desk – big obstacles to career success
When the boss presents your ideas as his own
7 deadly sins of partying with business partners
Segregator or Integrator – an important mindset for success
10 things confident people do and achieve success