The human brain has a magical power. That’s what you have to leverage
Here’s wishing you a very happy 2022. If you are already in a job that you love, you are already happy. A lot of people are not in jobs that they enjoy doing. What can they do to be happy?
Option 1: Do what you love
People say that we should do the work that leverages our strengths. We have both – strengths and weaknesses. What do we do about our weaknesses? Some organizations craft the job descriptions to design jobs that leverage the strengths of the employee. Job design is a special skill that HR needs to build. It helps people work in jobs that bring out their best. Sometimes the job that is harder for a person to do comes naturally to someone else. Creating teams where one person’s weakness is balanced out by the strength of another team member can be the recipe for high performing teams.
-
Love what you do: According to Dan Gilbert, the author of Stumbling on Happiness, mentions in his TED talk that the human brain has grown new capabilities as part of our evolution. The Prefrontal Lobe has the miraculous capability to simulate a scenario before it has happened in real life. We can find happiness naturally, when we get what we want. Even when we do not get what we want, the brain can synthesize happiness. Life’s traumas do not impact our happiness beyond three months.
“Reframing” is a way of changing the way you look at something and, thus, changing your experience of it. Being able to turn an average job or terrible job into something you love is an opportunity to reframe your experience. If you cannot do what you love, try loving what you do. In 2022, I hope you get to love what you do.
Meanwhile, here is a book on happiness that SHRM recommends
Put Happiness to Work: 7 Strategies to Elevate Engagement for Optimal Performance
Written for The SHRM South Asia Blog