Finding The Best Jobs & Careers

The Importance of Being Happy at Work

If you're unhappy in your job, consider changing. It may save your life. According to Christopher Peterson, in his book A Primer on Positive Psychology, people who are happy at work are happy with their lives. And those with happy lives live longer, so it's time to re-evaluate that job.

Researchers find that people's perception of their work falls into three general categories: a job, a career, or a calling.

Jobs, Careers, and Calling

A job is just a job, a means of earning necessary income. A career is a job with the promise of growth and better things ahead. A calling is work that in itself is deeply satisfying. A person's happiness in life corresponds with how they perceive their work. Those perceiving work as a calling are the happiest, those with a job are least happy.

What should you do if your work is just a job, or even if it feels like a career? Should you jump ship and look for something better hoping to find a calling? Not necessarily.

The Best Job May Be Close

Perhaps you can change the job you have instead of finding a new job. Whether you work to change the job you have or take the plunge to find a new job, there are two critical steps you should take to have work that contributes to your happiness and a long life.

Two Critical Ingredients for Being Happy at Work

• The Best Jobs Use Your Strengths

We're happiest when we use our strengths, those activities at which we inherently excel. Strengths are the foundation of any activity that you really love to do. Strengths can be talents, such as creativity, logic, or organizational ability. Strengths can also be social skills, such as easily connecting with others, leadership, or the ability to bring humor to others. Or they can be altruistic, such as generosity, being loving, or helpfulness.

There are many ways of describing and characterizing strengths. Before jumping into a new job, spend some time deciding on your top five or six strengths. Consider how you might change your current job to take advantage of your strengths. You might be surprised by the latitude your employer is willing to give you when you explain how changing your job will help you be more productive.

If changing your current job isn't possible, be sure to evaluate any new job in terms of your opportunity to apply your strengths.

• See the Big Picture To Change a Job to a Calling

Seeing the big picture, how your work relates to something larger, is a good way to link one of your strengths to your current work, especially the social and altruistic strengths. To what greater good does your work contribute? If you work as a clerk, consider how what you do contributes to customer's by how well you help them find the product or service they require at a price that brings them value.

Any job within the health industry contributes to a greater good of someone's health and wellness. A job within the insurance industry contributes to people's protection against catastrophic loss. A customer service job in any industry helps solve people's problems, restoring products and services to their satisfaction.

Characteristics of The Best Jobs and Careers

Seeing the big picture and using your individual strengths in the work you do will go a long way toward increasing your satisfaction with work. The more satisfying your job, the happier you'll feel, and research points out that the happier you feel the longer you'll live.

If you liked Finding the Best Jobs & Careers you may like Positive Psychology &Happiness.

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