Everybody is on the lookout for the “secret to happiness.” But the question I’m often asked is does happiness in life lead to a happier work life? Or does a satisfying work life lead to all of your life feeling more joyful?

Though that can sound like a “chicken and the egg” conundrum, understand that your work life adds up to about one-third of your lifetime activities. So, it’s helpful to explore how the right career can be sabotaging our happiness. Or leading us down the path of a life we love.

Here’s three questions you may want to ask yourself.

Do We Need a Fulfilling Job to Be Happy?

Many people work over 40 hours per week. Naturally, if you have to spend 30% of your life at work, a good career will support your emotional well-being. But it’s about the quality of the work you do, not necessarily the job. You may find if you work more than 40 hours a week in a job you love, it doesn’t feel like work.

This is why so many people choose to be teachers because it is a career where you have to invest a lot of yourself. If you are looking for any inspiration to become a teacher, these Teach for America reviews will give you some insight. But if you choose any career that makes you happy, you’ve got to think that some parts become “work” at some point.

There are things that we all need to do that are not at the top of the priority list, whether this is boring admin or box-ticking exercises. However, if you can spend two-thirds of your time in your job actually enjoying it, this is a very successful outcome.

Is it About Making More Money to Support Yourself in Life?

Some people believe that they need a job to get the right salary so they can be happy in their life. But it helps to remember that enjoying your job is more important than salary. When you earn enough to support yourself, having more money doesn’t make you happier.

It is important to make sure that you can support yourself financially, but not worry about having to earn more. This can get into a very unhealthy spiral of trying to achieve more.

Your Job Can Make You Miserable, No Matter How “Perfect” it Is

It’s easy to see this when we spy on people at rush hour, but if we are looking to be happy, we need to address what will get us out of bed in the morning. Even if you get a pay rise in a job you hate, your happiness is only temporary. Sometimes we think that we cannot make changes in our lives because we are stuck in a job. But is this because the job is not challenging you?

You can always make changes in your current job to make things more challenging. If you start to understand how your role gives you value to your life, and you change your perspective of this, it could make all the difference.

If you want to truly love life, having a career is not the be-all and end-all. But if your career is all you have in your life, you may have to only assess what your idea of happiness is.


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