IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE HAPPY AT WORK?

Find something that suits you

In my childhood, I used to say that I wanted to be an astronaut and a circus clown. Then, like every boy in the 90s, he wanted to be a soccer player… But those options didn’t fulfill the requirements, after all, I’m not good at being a clown or a goalscorer.

In the end, I ended up finding myself in the communication area, not without going through sales, customer service and kitchen. I came to this conclusion because I have aptitude for writing and speaking, I like to do it and there is a certain demand for professionals in the segment.

Have you ever heard the phrase “Work at something you love and never work again”? Well, spoiler alert: it’s a lie. As much as you find yourself in some area, there will always be tasks that you like less to do, deadlines, internal and external pressures that you need to deal with, after all it is a job.

What I want to say here is that working with what you like will not guarantee you 44 hours of joy a week, but it is certainly a very important step to start being happy at work.

Don’t take things personally

We’ve already talked here on the blog about resilience — which is one of the most valued skills in the market today — and how it can help you at work. Briefly summarizing, resilience is your ability to go through stressful or high-pressure situations without losing your structure, that is, facing the challenges of work in a professional manner.

What does that mean? That sometimes things won’t go as planned at the office, or you’ll get negative feedback, or a harsher line from a colleague or client, but you can’t let that get you down.

When faced with one of these negative situations, think: “okay, I’m working, what can I get out of this situation?”.

SO IS IT TO SEPARATE PERSONAL LIFE FROM PROFESSIONAL?

So that you can be happy at work, it’s important to understand that this division doesn’t really exist, because there aren’t two of you, there isn’t Pedro at work and Pedro at home. Even more so if we think that, in the most common 44-hour workweek models, we spend more time at work than at home, so our professional life is part of our personal life.

What we need to learn to do is distinguish what is a personal interaction — like a conversation between friends at the office — from a professional interaction, a meeting to talk about projects with that same person, for example.

As we mentioned in the article, resilience at work is not about putting up with everything and never letting go. But get involved with professional situations proportionately. But of course, when a scenario goes beyond the limits of your values ​​and objectives, it means that it may be time to look for a new opportunity.

Learn every day

Every routine tends to become a little monotonous and this ends up hurting your performance and your happiness at work. So, the tip to overcome this is to learn every day. And I’m not even talking about courses (which you should take, after all, professional qualification is very important in the world of work), but about the small everyday lessons that can go unnoticed.

Keep people by your side

Our work environment is made up of several people, customers, suppliers, colleagues, leaders… and the relationship with them is a key point for being happy at work. You know when you need to do a project with a colleague you don’t get along with? Or serve a customer who doesn’t treat you the way you’d like? It can ruin your day.

That’s why it’s important to do your part and try to bring people to your side. Always be cordial, friendly and respectful to everyone. That way people will also be nicer to you and it will even be easier to get help with any task that you find difficult. And if you realize that there is a conflict with someone, try to resolve it, don’t let it grow and become unsustainable. Your routine will definitely be lighter. Oh, and if even trying to improve the relationship, it remains bad, remember not to take it personally.

Recognize your strengths and weaknesses (and work on them)

Self-knowledge is essential for the world of work. Recognizing what is good and what can be improved allows a better view of the professional you are. This is important to be happy at work because when you don’t recognize your weaknesses, you won’t be able to see, for example, why something didn’t go as planned, or why you weren’t promoted, you stayed stagnant.

It’s important to know what you’re good at to make the best use of those traits and what you’re still not so good at to train and improve. That way it will be easier to be recognized in the company and, of course, to feel good at work.

Let go of fear and anxiety

Finally, we know that changes in society are happening very quickly and this generates certain fears in all of us. The market is increasingly dynamic, companies and professionals reinventing themselves all the time, new techniques appearing overnight and even social networks where we end up comparing ourselves with other people. All this generates anxiety, a feeling of non-fulfillment. “Am I good enough?”, “Will I keep my job?”, “Can I?”, “Am I producing what is expected of me?”. Chances are you’ve already asked yourself something like this. I have.