The fake trade-off between happiness and career
Happiness and career have been seen as being on opposite sides of a tug of war. If one is looking for a job that offers more than the enough to pay bills, so a happiness restriction is considered as unavoidable. On the other hand, when one is pursuing the job that fits for your professional expectations and personal development, the common sense throws a warning about the risk of financial problems. This long-date trade-off has been kept alive because it is based on the assumption that happiness and career are strongly linked. But, if one breaks such a connection and sees the big picture, the career may be seen as just a simple trait of personal life. By doing this, anyone may be able to love a job that just pays your bills.
In such a context, seeing the happiness in a big picture involves rising straight questions about its relationship with workplace success. According to Boehm and Lyubomirsky, the common sense that happiness and satisfaction of employees are because their success in the job must be reviewed. The authors gathered evidence that the many successful employees experimented feelings of happiness dating previously to the job. So, the sense of personal well being does not correlate with notable performances in the job environment. The authors suggest that happiness often precedes measures of success.
The disruptive concept of seeing earnings and love in the workplace without direct linking is also endorsed by Henderson. The author suggests three factors as determinants for the satisfaction at work: commitment to follow personal interests, breadth competencies and strengths, and a suitable atmosphere. The first two factors have a direct connection with the background of an employee. Independently of the job context in which an employee is going to be immersed, your interests, competencies, and strengths are not affected by it since such an employee sees your sense of well being in a big picture. The third factor supports the same idea given that all features from a positive work environment are subjective, that is, depends on the psychological state of each one.
Much more may be considered when one must solve between earnings and love, happiness and career. There is no any framework for help people to take the wisest decision. But, by putting the variables of this equation in the correct perspective, it is possible to see that there are no two sides. Happiness and career are not disputing in a tug of war. On the contrary, they are on the same side but they play different roles. When one sees your personal happiness as a more significant goal, the career turns into a simple tool to achieve a higher aim. Then, the decision between a job that pays or the job that one loves turns also into a straight choice among a job that serves for a more relevant purpose.
