Work can feel tough and stressful in the present economic climate. It may seem that all you ever do is tackle problems, keep the peace and feel exhausted at the end of the day.

But have you ever wondered what makes you happy at work? It might seem a stupid question but as psychologist, Dr Martin Seligman has observed we often are living in a state of learned-helplessness. That means we filter all our experiences for the ones that makes us feel helpless or miserable.

Consequently, we are trapped because the more we feel helpless the more we believe there is no way to change and life will just be that way. But the power to change lies with us so we can enjoy our work more and believe life is meaningful.

A Way Out

The first step is to realise that our habitual thinking is the source of our misery. What we think, we feel so that is where our change has to start. A tall order you might think, but in fact, there’s an easy way to start.

That is to write down what makes you happy at work. At least what you are grateful for about your work. The cynic part of you of course will have a field day, but once it’s done let the real stuff come forward.

Simple Pleasures

They can be very simple things like the way a certain colleague can make you laugh or always says hello. Perhaps you enjoy it when you solve someone’s problem or get a work process sorted out. Get started on this task and write whatever comes to mind, even if it’s rubbish to begin with.

Keep adding to it over the next few days so that your mind is seeking out the things you like about work. If you take the trouble to do this you will be pleasantly surprised at the effect. You see happiness is a way of thinking not something we have.

By doing the above you have just started to train your thinking to sort for what makes you happy. When you’re happier a lot more is possible.

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