On the search for something better?
Want a career you love?
Know what to look for?
While a generous salary, gourmet snacks and swanky title can be nice, don’t get fooled. The boost we get from these extrinsic motivators doesn’t last. In fact, research has shown that happiness tied to income plateaus at just under $100k.
What does bring lasting career happiness?
1: Find Alignment
Consider what you’ll be doing and the dominant values of your organization, their initiatives and culture.
Not everyone wants to be a cancer researcher, rocket scientists or full-time activist. Although, sailing for Greenpeace does look like an adventure--career happiness can be nurtured in ANY industry, provided you’re working in ways and on matters that align with your values.
What’s important to you? What do you prize? At a minimum, are these values respected by colleagues and leaders? Are they shared?
In the nonprofit and issue-centered organizations, we may be drawn in by an organization’s overarching mission.
While mission IS important, it’s equally critical to explore if the culture, and values of the organization’s leadership align with your own.
Say you’re a program director of a homelessness service organization who prizes creativity, innovation and forward-thinking. You believe deeply in the cause and are excited about how Tiny Houses may help. If your management prizes stability and resists testing novel approaches, you’re swimming upstream. Your values aren’t in alignment.
But don't despair! Find a sister organization where innovation is prized and you’ll be much closer to lasting career happiness.
Bottomline: When we’re investing energy in work that aligns or affirms our values, we’re more likely to feel intrinsic motivation—a powerful, positive internal boost—and see meaning in our efforts and greater fulfillment.
2. Gotta Grow
When on the lookout for lasting career happiness, another important factor to consider is opportunity for growth.
Makes sense, doesn’t it? As humans, we’re made to grow. That’s one reason we encounter so much suffering when we’re stagnating, bored or frozen in fear. In these states, we’re holding ourselves back from steps that feel scary, but could actually build new competencies and confidence.
However, meaningful professional growth is about more than just learning.
Growth that ties back to our values is especially potent. Psychology research shows that when our growth is linked to efforts that are intrinsically motivating—we’re building skills or competencies that feed into or complement our values--we’re more likely to encounter happiness at work.
Your organization's complimentary Spanish language classes could be a fun activity. Even better if your value of community will be affirmed putting these new skills to work on a collaborative project with Spanish-speaking partners.
Growth that builds toward mastery is also powerful. This means we’re practicing, building our expertise and achieving competence, a key contributor to satisfaction and fulfillment. With competence, we have the confidence we can deliver high quality results. We’re not striving anymore, so we can relax into our efforts and enjoy the ride.
3. Freedom to Choose
Anyone who’s been micromanaged knows how crucial autonomy is to happiness and satisfaction at work.
Not only is micromanagement frustrating and suffocating, it dishonors our abilities and disempowers our decision-making. Micromanaging can deaden our passion for even the most outwardly exciting endeavors.
By contrast, having autonomy in our professional lives can contribute powerfully toward happiness. This doesn’t necessarily mean we have full freedom to determine our work goals and milestones. More often it translates into having free rein to determine how we go about achieving them.
International research by Gallup has shown that workers with the most autonomy—think managers, executives, organizational leaders—report higher levels of happiness than colleagues in less autonomous roles.
When we have autonomy in our work, we’re empowered. We’re invited to make choices, control our day or schedule and learn from our experiences and grow. There’s also evidence that autonomy can spark greater creativity, satisfaction and higher motivation, as well. Autonomy: It's a win all around!
4. Ensure There's Meaning
As in human romances, not every day--even in a career you love--will be a day filled with ease.
Crises hit. High-performers quit. Clients say “no.” But work can be fulfilling, even during periods of stress and uncertainty if you can find meaning in the effort. This means anchoring yourself to a bigger picture or deeper impact that stands behind your contribution. Seeing meaning can help us sustain our motivation and overcome challenges with our resilience intact.
In 2017, I was overseeing a multi-million-dollar teen pregnancy prevention program. When our funding was abruptly cut by the feds, it would’ve been easy to throw up our hands and walk off the field. But our team was wedded to an issue bigger than politics—youth empowerment. Having this anchor helped us stay the course and seek out creative new partnerships and means for sustaining our impact. Ultimately, our funding was reinstated (thank you Public Citizen!). Had we seen less meaning in our work (and had less commitment within our organizations), we might've directed our focus and energies into other initiatives.
Indeed, what we find meaningful isn't evergreen. It can change over time. Issues and priorities for ourselves and our work can shift as we age. Adam Grant shares in Think Again that as professionals age, they're more likely to seek opportunities that do more than deliver a paycheck. They want work that improves life for others. Opportunities that promise impact.
We're all multi-faceted, multi-passionate individuals. Career isn't the only avenue for achieving happiness. But it IS available to you. Why settle for less?
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