Positioning Yourself for Professional Happiness

I struggled with the title of this post. Professional Happiness? Isn’t Happiness a desired state of mind for all aspects of our life? Can one achieve professional happiness while not achieving personal happiness? Maybe, but since in a 24-work hour day we spend a good bit of our time working, it is probably important to strive to achieve professional Happiness.

I envy people who create their own version of happiness and not one that society creates for us. By mistake, I assume that everyone in life wants to keep climbing the professional ladder. I assume that everyone has their vision focused on the next promotion or the next salary raises.  This mindset often sets us up for professional disappointment and unhappiness. As I meet and teach amazing people, generally much younger than I, I have been impressed with the brave people that have the courage to place professional happiness high on their list of things that they value. 

I recently had the opportunity to discuss with a young professional that I greatly admire the pros and cons of going after one of the best job opportunities in our field. They interviewed, they were offered the position, and then they declined the offer. After hearing the reasons for declining the position, it all boiled down to staying true to the things that add value to their life. It takes courage to be true to yourself and not cave to what others think would be good for you. 

What are some exercises that you can do that will help you define your own happiness. Below are a few questions that will help you on your happiness journey.

1. Why are you on this earth?  Not why do your parents, spouse, or friends think you are on this earth, why do YOU think you have been put here.  The answer to this question takes time to solve. It also changes as you move on in life. Know this, it will go a long way to achieving happiness. 
2. What are your personal values? Do you value time with yourself? Do you value making money? Do you value time with your friends or family? If your job allows you to pursue and work on the things you value, you will be very happy at work.
3. Are you on a thought-out professional track with goals? As much as this question drives people crazy, I still think it is relevant…Where do you want to be in 5 years, or 10 years.? What are you working toward? If you just wake up, go to work, and get paid every two weeks, work will get monotonous. If you are setting goals and action items to achieve your goals you will not only be happy, but you will also be in a better place when you reach your 5- or 10-year benchmark. 

Professional Happiness just does not happen by chance. Think about the people most happy where you work. They are not always those in senior management positions. They generally are principled people that “have a life,” outside of work. 

In closing, my advice is to think through those things you value and do not work in a place that cannot support the things that are important to you.