We spend most of our time in the office, can you say that you’re happy while at work? Do you sometimes find yourself asking why are you dragging your feet in the morning to go to work that doesn’t make you happy?
Below are the three things that can help you be happy at work:
Knowing your Purpose
Have a self-evaluation, do you find your work meaningful and rewarding? When you feel that your personal values are respected at work and that your beliefs are a good fit with your organization and your team then you already know your purpose. You can grow in the organization as you find opportunities to live your values in your daily tasks, as well as in longer-term projects.
You also feel that your work provides you with a lot of opportunities to have a positive impact on people and for you to continue and sustain this sense of purpose at work, it would be helpful to:
Make sure to not let the pressures and stress of work push you away from tasks and projects you love. By keeping it together, one task at a time, one milestone at a time.
Look for more opportunities to be creative, innovate, and fix problems. Always become a part of the solution and not the one creating the problem.
Regularly set goals that challenge you to learn and master new skills and that require you to get out of your comfort zone.
Having Hope at Work
Don’t let negativity prosper. Be inspired by the possibilities of your job, as well as by where your organization is going. Keep it positive, clearly see a link between what you want in your life and how your job fits into your personal vision. Be optimistic about your future, your team’s possibilities, and your organization’s vision. And while you see challenges ahead, set your mind to feel capable of planning for how to overcome these challenges and leverage on opportunities.
It’s good for you to remain adaptable as situations change, to keep hope and carry out your dream of the future, make sure to:
Have your dream board where you can see it, to remind you where you’re going. Do not forget to include your vision for your career and your work. This should be set 5 to 10 years in the future and should include aspects of your life that are important to you. For most people, this includes family, friends, lifestyle, health, work and other aspects that are special to your own.
Visualize the scenarios that could either help you or hinder you as you reach for your dreams and strive to make your vision a reality. Then, for each potential challenge or obstacle or even an opportunity you foresee, list in your mind what you can do and how you may have to adjust or adapt your plans.
Commit to openly and regularly sharing your positivity at work, especially in situations that are very challenging. Such as, if you find yourself in a “back to the drawing board” situation when a project hits a problem, try not to join the “Ooops what now” chorus. Instead, lead the team in an exercise to collect what has been learned so far and start from there in addressing the concern.
Building Friendship at Work
It is healthy to have warm, trusting, and respectful relationships with your colleagues and boss. You want to be able to like the people you interact with regularly, and they like you in return. When you feel that you belong — that you are with your “team” at work, then you are able to be yourself at work, and you support others to share their unique differences and talents. Make sure that when disagreements or conflicts arise, you and others seek a win-win solution. This can benefit you as you feel good about work, and you become more effective as a result of good relationships.
The goal is better collaboration, conflicts are easily managed, and win-win outcomes in fruition. To make the most of your friendships at work, you can:
Make time for friendship, be sure to not take relationships for granted. Even the best ones need time and attention. They are your support group, when times are gloomy they will be there as your core group to help and back you up.
Review your calendar monthly to make sure you have time to dedicate to people. I believe that we cannot use every new, spare moment to talk with people about work (and definitely not just about their performance). Use the time to get to know people, to deepen your relationships and build trust.
Create rules of engagement or house rules for your team that will help everyone to deal productively with conflict, pressure, and stress — the things that can harm even the best relationships.
A happy environment breeds generosity, trust, and fun. These should all be part of your everyday experience, and when it’s present, then you look forward to going to work. Make your workplace a happy one.
According to Shawn Achor (an advocate of positive psychology) “Happiness inspires productivity” well, he cannot be more right. Let’s all dream big, work hard, stay focused and surround ourselves with positive people! Be happy at work :-) !