How to Love Your Job

How to Be Happy at Your Job

It’s easy to hope to be happy in your job. And it’s nearly as easy to think, “It’s up to my employer to make me happy.” Well, yes, it is up to your employer, but only partially. In order to be a truly fulfilled employee, part of the responsibility is yours. Here are five things you can do that will help you be a happy camper at work.

1. Take ownership.

It’s important to take full ownership of your projects and tasks. Because when you take charge of them, you become more responsible. You have a major investment in your work and its outcomes. Typically, this results in better quality work, promising outcomes, and perhaps most important of all, a boss that’s happy with your performance.

2. Leave your comfort zone.

Think about Google. They run the best search engine online, but they’re so much more. They became so much more by emphasizing experimentation and even accepting failures as learning experiences. This culture empowers all of their employees to think outside of the box—even when that thinking doesn’t directly relate to their day jobs—and foster a creative community with expansive opportunities.

3. Be flexible.

Whether you’re proactively or reactively flexible, you show your managers that you’re a chameleon—able to adapt to an array of circumstances. Flexibility, whether with your role or schedule can lead to a happier environment and greater trust. Even Best Buy has bought into this; they conducted an experiment in which workers could select their own hours. As a result, productivity rose by 35% and morale grew to new heights. Best Buy then incorporated flexible schedules into other areas of the company.

4. Find your purpose.

This doesn’t mean your overarching purpose in life. Just find a job that offers you with true meaning—a job in which you’re making a difference for the economy as a whole and/or individual people. It’s in this work environment where you’ll be a happy worker and your customers and co-workers will be happy too. It’s also in this work environment where you’re most likely to stick around for the long term.

5. Remember, there’s more to life than money.

Sure, we all need a certain amount of money to pay bills, build a savings account, and have some fun. It’s really important. But remember this old expression: there’s more to life than money. Are you getting terrific benefits such as health and dental insurance? Are you afforded an exceptional work-life balance so that you can turn completely off when you’re out of the office? Do you have a passion for the work you’re doing? Ask yourself these questions, answer them honestly, and determine how much they add to your happiness. How much do they make up for average/competitive pay?

Beyond these five ways, it helps to know how being happier at work can help your life outside of work, where people are happiest, and what you can do to maximize your productivity at work (which is often tied to happiness). For all of this information and more, check out our infographic below.