The Career Healer: Being Completely Happy

Happiness in work is connected to happiness in life.

Dr. Robert A. Giacalone, the Career Healer on January 25, 2012

Happiness at work is so often segmented into work and work-related ideals. It’s about “happy with the job” and as a result, it is a partial kind of happiness, if it is ever achieved at all.

The better model, the model more consistent with how the world really works, requires us to look at work happiness as part of what I call the Human Triangle of Life Happiness, which includes job-related, materialistic and intrinsic happiness.

Real happiness is about all three.

Job-Related Happiness: In the Triangle approach, you may focus on job-related joys, such as happiness with job security and benefits. These joys include a sense of professional fulfillment, where good work evaluations and acceptance at work give you a feeling that you belong and are in the right place.

Materialistic Happiness: In the second part of the Triangle, you focus on materialistic happiness. This means different things to different people. In general, though, it is about having a satisfactory amount of money to meet your needs, a sense of social status and power.

While these are often tied to work, they need not be. Money, for example, can be inherited or acquired through investments. Social status can be a function of ones family or ones outside connections. Power can be connected to ones community status. But wherever these come from, materialistic happiness is one of the more discussed parts of our lives — and the one that often gets the most discussion among friends and family.

Intrinsic Happiness: Because of the overwhelming focus on materialistic happiness, we often forget about intrinsic happiness. This is the kind of happiness you get in making a difference to family, friends or society at large. Intrinsic happiness is the kind of happiness you get from family relationships. It is the happiness that comes from an inner sense of peace and contentment. It is the happiness you get from the things that count but cannot be counted.

So how do you maximize intrinsic happiness while still doing a good job?

1. Corporate Social Responsibility Programs

Find ways to make a difference that are connected to your company’s social responsibility programs. So many companies want their employees to get out into the community and help—whether it’s Habitat for Humanity or teaching people to read, use the company time to do things that will make them and you, happy. If no such programs exist, suggest some. You will likely find a receptive audience in your company.

2. Family Time

Monitor your time spent at work and your time spent with your family. More importantly, monitor your reactions. Are you actually there in spirit with your family, or is your body there and your mind on work? Are you listening to them or just hearing what they say? It is hard to have happy relationship if you are an absentee member of the family.

3. Work Ethically

Live ethically at work. Focus on doing the right thing, living a moral work existence and engaging in behaviors you can be proud of when you leave work. Inner peace and contentment requires you to engage in actions that make you proud of what you do. It requires that you live in ways that engender positive outcomes for others and foster good will.

When it comes right down to it, the three sides of the Human Triangle of Life Happiness defines the Triangle—so if any one side is weakened, happiness is weakened. If any one side is focused upon at the cost of others, the Triangle becomes unbalanced and you become unhappy.  But if you focus on all three, you will find yourself more contented and energetic on a daily basis—at work and at home!

Dr. Robert A. Giacalone, aka the Career Healer, is a professor of Human Resource Management at Temple University. He is a recognized expert on behavioral business ethics, exit interviewing and surveying, workplace spirituality, impression management, employee deviance and the role of changing values in organizational life. Dr. Giacalone is author/editor of 8 books and more than 100 articles. You can check out his blog, The Essence of Living, at happinessisessential.com.