3 Happiness Blockers at Work

Is it me, or is there a lot out there right now on happiness? Or should I say (cue violin music and tweeting birds),

 

Articles on how to be happy at work abound. Some have 4 steps. Some have 10 steps. Many have illustrations.There are infographics, comics, memes.

 

Organizations are wrestling with the idea of disengaged employees. If they could just make their employees Happier and More Engaged, the bottom line would flourish.

 

And a quick Google search of the phrase “how to be happy” yields nearly 2 billion results in nanoseconds.

 

2 billion Google results can’t be wrong.

 

There’s a lot of good advice out there about bringing a high level of positivity to the job.

 

I strongly recommend you try some new “happiness” activities if you find yourself dragging at work.

 

The Happiness Blockers

 

It could be that what’s getting you down is a bigger issue. Maybe it cannot be resolved by improving your attitude, or making little adjustments in your day. You could be struggling with one of these happiness blockers.

Here are three behaviors that consistently drag people down on the “work-happy” meter.

 

They aren’t the only happiness blockers by any stretch. But they will keep you stuck if you don’t deal with them.

 

 

1. Anger.

 

Anger creates negative emotions that literally hamper your ability to make good decisions. It often mires you in a cesspool of blaming others for your difficulties. Usually it makes you unlikeable.

 

The source of your anger could be someone who cuts you off on the freeway, or the remnants of your awful childhood. Whatever is driving it, you are best served by resolving it. It is killing your chance to be happy in your job, or pretty much anywhere else.

 

2. Fear.

 

It doesn’t surprise me that a lot of troubled people in the workplace are motivated by fear. Bully managers who fear being perceived as a failure. Perfectionists who fear making any kind of mistake. Managers who fear making decisions.

 

Fear of success, failure, rejection, stopping, or starting.

 

The most common situation, I find, is the fear of broaching a situation that makes you uncomfortable.

 

Situations like conducting a difficult conversation, being assertive about what you need, saying no, or confronting a difficult manager. I’ve spoken with people who would rather quit their jobs than do these things.

 

Yet these are all essential skills in today’s workplace. They often don’t get the attention other skills do, but they are the ones with profound ability to affect your satisfaction in the workplace. Without them you feel disempowered and fearful.

 

When you can overcome the fear and take these strides, you will bust this happiness blocker.

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3. Comparing yourself to others.

 

Who can’t relate to this one? And how many times have you heard advice against comparing yourself to others? It’s a happiness blocker if I’ve ever seen one! (I only know that because I have pled guilty on many occasions!)

 

When you compare yourself to others, you are comparing their best to your worst. It’s just how we do it.

 

You forget all the things you do well, and focus on the things where you perceive you’re not as good.

 

You make assumptions based on what you observe, and start drawing conclusions about the other person, or yourself, that are completely unfounded.

 

From there you can spin into fear, anger, dread and all kinds of anxiety. Comparing yourself to others is a bad habit you need to kick. Stop blocking your happiness this way!

 

Do any of these happiness blockers ring a bell for you?

 

If so, leave a comment and let me know what you’re doing to resolve them. You deserve to be happier at work. And that is more within your control than you believe.

 

“Happiness never appeared to me as an absolute aim,” said Einstein. “The ideals that have lighted my way are Kindness, Beauty and Truth.”