“Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.” – Daphne Du Maurier
How can we aspire to be happy at work everyday, what can we improve within ourselves and our work environment to be able to achieve that?
Many variables come into play that effect happiness in the workplace; Diverse Personalities, High Emotional Intelligence, Work-life balance, Compassion, Acceptance, Social Connections, Creativity, Achievements, Financial Security, and Team Autonomy and Micromanagement.
First and foremost, to be happy, one must be able to truly accept and believe that change lies from within. Thinking and manifesting positive thoughts can release a dopamine hormone that increases the chances of acquiring new skill sets and allow us to gain experiences that result to employees being more proactive and productive.
Being internally content and happy is not necessarily enough, one must also ensure that the workplace is a positive place and this can be achieved by having positive relations with colleagues. It is psychologically proven that an unexpected act of kindness towards a colleague will enhance the relationship with them and in return impact the dynamics of the office. Researchers have found that an area in the brain called the nucleus accumbens is much more active when receiving an unpredictable surprise. There are several small things you can do in order to improve your relationship with your colleagues such as asking about their weekend plans or gossip about the latest trends.
Cooping and accepting colleagues’ personalities at work is a key to create a comfortable and collaborative work environment. Learn to handle and read a situation thoroughly. Try to avoid interacting with negative gossip as it can lead to bad outcomes. Also, you need to be non-judgmental towards different personalities.
It’s essential to have your work-life balance in effect, because a lack of it, can lead to psychological strains. Working overtime or in the evenings several days a week results in an imbalance between your personal and work life.
Becoming highly inspired; to create and accomplish new ideas and thoughts within your job that will result into you being happy and fulfilled. Researchers have found happiness and creativity are often paired together.
Having financial security has its ups and downs, but nevertheless it makes the individual enjoy life as it has several advantages such as, allowing us to shape our own happy lifestyle, if done correctly.
“You cannot judge what should bring others joy, and others cannot judge what should bring you joy.” – Alan Cohen
One of the many factors that affect happiness negatively in the workplace is micromanagement. If at the workplace there is a long term case of micro-management there would be several turnovers and low employee morale. Therefore, teams need to have one consensus, because if one employee disagrees with a decision and seems he or she has offered a new inspirational idea that has been rejected by colleagues, then havoc runs amiss at the office; reducing the amount of work accomplished and being efficient. Therefore, he or she will comply according to the status quo, resulting into not thinking outside of the box.
“Autonomy is the whole thing; it’s what unhappy people are missing.” – Judith Guest
Other factors such as upbringing and personality can affect the way you act around people, however, you can improve by practicing everyday. The effective social skills needed in order to harness Emotional Intelligence are: self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy and motivation.
You need to recognize and be aware of your feelings and who you are in general and identify your strengths and weaknesses; be versatile when the work-environment undergoes big changes.
To sum up, statistics show we need to have the soft skills to build strong social relationships, in order to have a healthy and positive impact at the workplace. As well as being creative to keep us highly motivated and inspired.
Article by Sarah Alzuwaidi, Social Media Associate