WARNING: If you want to read a blog post that justifies and commiserates with your dissatisfaction at work – then please do NOT read any further! This post is about how each of us is ultimately responsible for our own happiness at work. It’s not up to our bosses, managers, or co-workers to make us happy. If we’re not happy at work, we only have ourselves to blame. Yep, if you’re unhappy, it’s your own fault.
(Sorry, I warned you.)
Perhaps this sounds a bit harsh, but let’s take an honest look at ourselves. Each of us has a choice in tough situations. We can complain to our co-workers, feel angry, and drag our feet on the job, OR we can happily rise to the challenge, help our team, and feel satisfied in the work we’re doing together.
Let’s say my boss asks me to work on a last minute project. She says, “Hey, could you please jump in and help with this big, complicated website launch? By the way, it needs to be done by tomorrow morning…”
I have a choice in how I respond. If I choose to whine, procrastinate, get angry, who does this hurt? ME! Hmm, so that choice would just suck on many levels. So what’s the other choice? I know that by taking on the task, I can really help our company in a time of need – plus, my boss is sooo nice that she’d surely give me comp time if I worked all night 
So maybe I’m just a freak-nerd who likes to enjoy my time at work (I definitely am), but I’ve learned that …
1) Being angry is a big waste of time, and life is short.
2) The people around us can sense the negativity we are putting out, and that’s no fun.
3) When we are negative, we are making the CHOICE to be unhappy. Worse yet, maybe it’s not even a truly conscious choice!
Here are my tips for finding happiness at work - even when projects are due, unhappy clients are calling, and your coworker is chirping about how she hates Mondays …
1. Catch yourself in the moment. Have you ever gotten angry about some little thing that happened at work and hours later you find yourself at home – or maybe even back at work the next day – still in a horrible mood? Well, I have. It’s really so easy to convince ourselves that we are completely justified in our unhappiness, isn’t it? In fact, most of the time we might not even realize that we are just unnecessarily hanging on to unhappiness; we have unconsciously gotten stuck! OK, so how do we get un-stuck? First we need to notice that we’re stuck, and then we can try to make a conscious choice to get unstuck. What if we could catch ourselves right in the moment that grumpiness sets in, and say, “Man, I’m so totally annoyed, but I’m going to choose to NOT go with that feeling. I’m going to do something different, because I WANT to be happy”? (Even if so-and-so is a complete pain in the rump – which may very well be the case.)
2. Do something different this time. OK, so maybe I’m feeling grumpy about a task that I’ve been assigned. I could whine and moan, or I could just do it. Yes indeed, instead of being unhappy about it, I could choose to meet the work head on, enjoy the challenge, and celebrate the fact that I’ve been given the chance to do my best (for our business AND internally for myself). Here’s another one: What if I’m feeling annoyed with a co-worker because THEY’RE complaining about work? Well, I can try to consider that maybe that co-worker doesn’t realize he’s gotten stuck in negativity, AND, since I know that sometimes I get stuck too– how can I hold it against them?! Instead, maybe something as simple as a kind gesture or a joke could help him get un-stuck (laughter at work is really, really, good).
The bottom line is this – being happy at work feels really good, and it’s up to each of us to find our bliss in our work environment. We need to learn to recognize when we’re unhappy and take steps to change our reaction to situations – because when we’re happy we tend to find more creative solutions, we’re more productive, we feel less stressed out, and we’re more fun to be around. And who doesn’t want that?!
Interested in more ways to find happiness at work?
See what The Chief Happiness Officer, Alexandar Kjerulf, has to say on the topic.
