Everything has a self-life, including the most sought-after job or promotion, relationship or marriage prayed for, possession longed for, or very much anticipated experience. For this reason, it’s often believed that money cannot buy happiness. The exciting finding is that what cannot be purchased only promises lifelong happiness if we put in the work.
The “honeymoon phase,” often referred to as the initial surge in excitement, is tied to hedonic adaptation. This concept is evident in the rate at which things return to normalcy regardless of how heightened a positive or negative feeling was.
As we celebrated the International Day of Happiness on March 20th, I wanted to write about how employees can maintain a happy workplace. Reminiscing on how far we have come in creating happy work environments in organizations, the need to sustain such environment revealed that creating a happy workplace is just the tip of the iceberg. Much more goes into acceptance and maintenance, which should always be supported and addressed. Therefore, a happy workplace has its honeymoon period, even though the secret to thwarting its hedonic adaptation is building a system that overcommunicates and reinforces it.
So, when I polled, “What makes you happy?” a couple of days ago, I realized anyone who picked work must be an outlier judging from the votes. What stood out was how diverse we are regarding what makes us happy. Even though my definition of happiness differs from yours, being happy at work has a somewhat synchronized meaning. Adapting Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, what motivates us to work is all within those five layers, with each rung of the ladder identifying people’s level of engagement and commitment. Therefore, sharing how to stay happy at work should come in handy here.
Discover yourself: discovering oneself is a path to finding purpose and meaning in life, which guarantees happiness. Anyone can build a career from virtually anything, including personal experiences. A quick path to self-discovery is using Dr. Akanimo’s DEED Pathway.
Be reliable: reliability comes with consistency and being on top of things. Although consistency may be more challenging than is often required, it’s the primary reliability marker. This attribute can help you become more efficient and effective as an employer.
Be accountable: as professionals who have mastered the craft and honed their skills, you should never lose sight of the need to be accountable to someone. Being accountable prevents experts from making errors, helps them receive constructive feedback, and encourages improvement on past performances.
Embrace change: since change is inevitable, we should always endeavor to accept it. One of the best ways to accept a good change is to be open-minded and give it your best shot. When fully explored, you may be pleasantly surprised at how valuable and transformational the new initiative, tool, resource, connection, or position can be.
Have values: your values will always rein you in as they often serve as your conscience, prompting or prodding you whenever you veer off track at work. Having at least three core values works perfectly well. Aside from being the voice of reasoning at work, having values creates the opportunity to match organizational goals with personal interests for value alignment. If there is harmony, you will surely be happy where you work.
Build relationships: human beings are social creatures. Even when you are goal-oriented, building good work relationships helps you avoid stepping on toes or getting trampled upon. Aside from knowledge/expertise, interpersonal skills are required to open the doors to where expertise needs to function. However, while at it, be careful not to break the rules of professional relationships. Always remember to practice vault and fairness.
Complement weaknesses: many people become unhappy at work because they compare themselves to their colleagues or co-workers. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses will change your perspective and lift your mood. Instead of lamenting your shortcomings, put your core strengths to great use while you find someone to complement your work in areas that are not your strong suits. You are not a superbeing, and even superheroes drop the ball sometimes.
Keep learning: acquiring new skills or reading daily benefits your brain and overall wellbeing. Having intellectual conversations at work boosts your confidence and puts you in a positive light. Focusing alone on your desk function will not take you far, let alone make you happy. Continuous learning always makes you grow and bloom.
Practice generosity: being generous transcends giving out money or gifts. Being generous without bearing gifts is a skill everyone needs to learn to stay happy. Be generous with greetings, pleasantries, courtesy, kindness, gratitude, compliments, empathy, and thoughtfulness. Be the life of the party in your workplace. Make everyone happy to see you and watch how much you look forward to going to work daily. Be generous with eating healthy and exercising too. These go a long way in helping your mood and productivity.
Manage stress: never work at the expense of your health or vice versa, as this will cause a disruption that can lead to resentment. So, if you love your job but your health or life is at risk due to it, settle down to evaluate things. Find the root causes and deal with them by choosing discomfort over resentment. Having an uncomfortable conversation with your boss about how you prefer to work on health grounds is better than resenting the entire organization for your failed health.
Call to action
What makes you happy? A. Family B. Work C. Money D. What money cannot buy. I would like to know if your job makes you happy. Kindly send an email to [email protected].
Opaleye, a wellbeing specialist and corporate wellness strategist, writes from Lagos
