Happiness in the Workplace

    How do you define happiness on the job?  If you had your way, wouldn’t you want to like everyone and have them like you?  Wouldn’t you want to be able to do the parts of your job that you love and delegate the rest?  Wouldn’t you want to be appreciated more often for the work that you do?  Most of us would admit that this level of expectation of happiness is probably not realistic.  In fact, you might believe that true happiness on the job isn’t even realistic.

     In this year’s series of newsletters, I’m going to suggest that you clarify your understanding and expectations for happiness in the workplace:  how you can find happiness in doing your work; how you can work with negativity; how you can appreciate your work from day to day; and how you can learn to perceive your work in a way that is fulfilling.  In the last issue of the year, I’ll talk about a new way to look at happiness that can offer you more joy, satisfaction and appreciation for the work that you do.  Let me tell you a little bit more about what each issue will cover.

 Doing Your Work
    Have you found your work to be routine, boring, and unchallenging?  In the April issue I’ll talk about ways that you might see the work you do in a whole new way.  I’ll talk about creating perspective, paying attention to what you do, seeking new opportunities for learning and growth, and studying your expectations of your job.  You’ll learn ways to re-frame pleasant and unpleasant tasks, how to be creative, how to ask for help and support, and how to challenge yourself.  I’ll also talk about how to work with your expectation of others at work to bring you happiness.

 Getting Caught Up in “What Isn’t”
    What are the expectations you have for happiness in the workplace?  Have you ever thought about why you have those expectations?  You might spend a lot of time wishing things were different, or wishing for those things that don’t exist in the workplace.  Even though you recognize that this wishing isn’t realistic, you may still find yourself spending time thinking about them.  In this June issue I’ll suggest ways that you might work with these unrealistic desires in a way that will reduce their negative impact on you and show how you can work constructively with other aspects of your desire.  I’ll also talk about the difference between giving up expectations and letting them go.

 Appreciating the Small Things
    Your days are filled with satisfying experiences; you just haven’t been accustomed to noticing and appreciating them.  In this August issue I’ll offer ways that you can become more conscious of your day-to-day experience.  You’ll learn how to appreciate the totality of your job, rather than just focus on the obvious things that go well or turn out poorly.  You’ll begin to notice and value how rich your work day is, how many opportunities you have to wake up and see what’s occurring, instead of drifting through your day unconsciously.  Even small things will begin to drift into your awareness in a way they haven’t before.  And you will learn to hold the experience of being on the job in a very different way.

 Holding things lightly
    You may feel that you become weighted down by your work; it seems like a burden you have to carry, day in and day out.  The actual work, the relationships, the difficult events, the negative results seem to be overwhelming.  In this October issue you will learn how to hold your work experience much more lightly.  You will learn how your innate sense of humor can include how you see yourself and others.  You’ll grow to appreciate that situations come and go, and that ultimately, new opportunities and demanding outcomes will overshadow the past and bring you into the present.  And you will learn about how to flow with these changes.

 What is Happiness?
    In this last issue of the year, we will draw together all of the suggestions from the past year, and use them to create a deeper and more meaningful definition of happiness.  You’ll learn that happiness has not only a full range of experiences, but it also encompasses many more benefits than you may have considered.  And ultimately I’ll challenge you to take up happiness in a very different way, in a way that can transform your work experience and enrich all of your life.  Join me for this exploration, analysis, experimentation and joyful engagement with happiness.  I promise that it will not only be thought-provoking, but amusing, challenging and fun!