How to be happier at work?
26 February 2014
Read by 2638 persons
Take charge, listen, learn patience: Philippe Laurent, career transition coach, shares his advice for thriving in your professional life.
[Express yourself] How to be happier at work? If I had a miracle solution, you would have already bought it. There are as many ways to be happy as there are fingerprints. Besides, there is no solution strictly speaking because happiness is not a problem, it is an aspiration. How can I then better satisfy my own aspiration for happiness in my work?
Answering this question is tantamount to answering several questions. What do you prefer to do in your work, and why? What positive aspects does it bring you? What need are you satisfying by performing this action? What can you do to do more of what you prefer, and less of what you don't like?
Know yourself better and cultivate your talents
To be happier at work, you need to take more control. We are the actors of our happiness. Let's not expect it from others, from the institution, from the company, from society! The person who wants to be happier at work must know themselves better, to detect their talents and cultivate them better. An external and neutral perspective is often necessary to do this work.
Let's also not aim for a distant goal that would quickly discourage us. The question of happiness is eminently current, because happiness is only experienced in the present. Nostalgia for a pleasant and bygone past, regret for a difficult or guilty past, the illusion of an idyllic future and the fear of a dark future are the four threads that prevent us from releasing our capacity for happiness.
An Indian sage wrote: "By wanting to do too much good, we forget to be good." I think that by wanting too much happiness, we forget to be happy. How to do it? By being more attentive to the people who work with us and to what we do and by trying to work as well as possible.
Don't compare your work to that of others
Too few people do the work they love. But the person who doesn't do the work they love can often love the work they do more. We must avoid comparing our situation to that of others: wherever the person is, they will always find someone to envy. And complain less about their lot: they may not be doing the work of their dreams, but there are surely people who would dream of doing their work.
Jealousy is the major obstacle to happiness in general, as well as to happiness at work in particular. Being happier at work is first and foremost about doing less of what makes us unhappy, so first of all, reduce jealousy.
Learn empathy and patience
Our work is carried out with other people who, sometimes, without wanting to, do not contribute to our happiness. Cooperating with others requires patience, tolerance and many other personal qualities that do not prevent painful moments of friction. Being happier in your work is accepting that emotions take their full place. This is not accepting being harassed, discouraged, criticized in public, but being able to feel the emotions of others and express your own emotions with respect for others.
The company has become the forbidden place for the expression of emotions. This is a great missed opportunity for the company, because emotions carry a colossal energy that transforms work relationships into human relationships. Learning empathy and assertiveness are essential elements for working with more happiness.
Don't aim for perfection but for exemplarity
The development of our capacity for happiness can be hampered by a moralizing vision of perfect duty: to be happy, we must accept effort and suffering. Without saying that life is a long calm river, effort only makes sense if it is ordered towards a goal that makes sense for the person. Giving meaning is therefore one of the essential tasks of the manager. If he wants to create a real project dynamic in his team, he must take the time to communicate on the why of what is asked.
Even the person who does the most modest work in the company needs to know they are useful, and to be recognized as one of the links that makes collective success possible. They themselves should not aim for perfection, but simply for exemplarity.
Philippe Laurent.
Lexpress.fr
Posted online on February 26, 2014.
[Express yourself] How to be happier at work? If I had a miracle solution, you would have already bought it. There are as many ways to be happy as there are fingerprints. Besides, there is no solution strictly speaking because happiness is not a problem, it is an aspiration. How can I then better satisfy my own aspiration for happiness in my work?
Answering this question is tantamount to answering several questions. What do you prefer to do in your work, and why? What positive aspects does it bring you? What need are you satisfying by performing this action? What can you do to do more of what you prefer, and less of what you don't like?
Know yourself better and cultivate your talents
To be happier at work, you need to take more control. We are the actors of our happiness. Let's not expect it from others, from the institution, from the company, from society! The person who wants to be happier at work must know themselves better, to detect their talents and cultivate them better. An external and neutral perspective is often necessary to do this work.
Let's also not aim for a distant goal that would quickly discourage us. The question of happiness is eminently current, because happiness is only experienced in the present. Nostalgia for a pleasant and bygone past, regret for a difficult or guilty past, the illusion of an idyllic future and the fear of a dark future are the four threads that prevent us from releasing our capacity for happiness.
An Indian sage wrote: "By wanting to do too much good, we forget to be good." I think that by wanting too much happiness, we forget to be happy. How to do it? By being more attentive to the people who work with us and to what we do and by trying to work as well as possible.
Don't compare your work to that of others
Too few people do the work they love. But the person who doesn't do the work they love can often love the work they do more. We must avoid comparing our situation to that of others: wherever the person is, they will always find someone to envy. And complain less about their lot: they may not be doing the work of their dreams, but there are surely people who would dream of doing their work.
Jealousy is the major obstacle to happiness in general, as well as to happiness at work in particular. Being happier at work is first and foremost about doing less of what makes us unhappy, so first of all, reduce jealousy.
Learn empathy and patience
Our work is carried out with other people who, sometimes, without wanting to, do not contribute to our happiness. Cooperating with others requires patience, tolerance and many other personal qualities that do not prevent painful moments of friction. Being happier in your work is accepting that emotions take their full place. This is not accepting being harassed, discouraged, criticized in public, but being able to feel the emotions of others and express your own emotions with respect for others.
The company has become the forbidden place for the expression of emotions. This is a great missed opportunity for the company, because emotions carry a colossal energy that transforms work relationships into human relationships. Learning empathy and assertiveness are essential elements for working with more happiness.
Don't aim for perfection but for exemplarity
The development of our capacity for happiness can be hampered by a moralizing vision of perfect duty: to be happy, we must accept effort and suffering. Without saying that life is a long calm river, effort only makes sense if it is ordered towards a goal that makes sense for the person. Giving meaning is therefore one of the essential tasks of the manager. If he wants to create a real project dynamic in his team, he must take the time to communicate on the why of what is asked.
Even the person who does the most modest work in the company needs to know they are useful, and to be recognized as one of the links that makes collective success possible. They themselves should not aim for perfection, but simply for exemplarity.
Philippe Laurent.
Lexpress.fr
Posted online on February 26, 2014.
