Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you’re struggling with something right now.
You might be trudging outside every day, fighting the snow that builds up on your boots while flurries freeze whatever parts of your face your giant parka doesn’t cover. Perhaps you wish you were somewhere cooler, because you’re about to get sick of sweating and eighty-degree nights aren’t enough to offset hundred-degree days.
It is often said that the grass is always greener on the other side. This means that people are always looking for something better, even when they have something good. This can be true in life, as people are always looking for the next best thing. They may think that tomorrow will be better than today, but it is important to remember to appreciate the present. It is also important to remember that everyone is just trying to make a good go at life. We are all trying to find our place in the world and make the most of our time here.
If we are to believe the founder of behavioral economics, Daniel Kahneman, the secret to life satisfaction comes in four factors: friendship, religion, meaning and goals. But that’s not all.
Passion means satisfaction.
Daniel Kahneman is a Nobel Prize winner in integrating psychological insights into economics. He is known for demonstrating human decision making in different situations, specially in uncertain situations.
According to Kahneman, people who characterize themselves as being severely passionate about something, who have consistent minor successes in their lives versus larger, more rare achievements and who are not materialistic are leading the pack when it comes to happiness.
There are small ways we can add more of the four above referenced factors in our lives; incorporating a coffee date with a good friend into the week may seem like a chore at first but the feeling you’ll have after the fact will almost certainly contribute to your overall satisfaction. It’s more the community-based, ritualistic nature of religion that seems to drive its happiness factor, so we’ll consider that another social behavior as well.
Meaning and goals, however, aren’t quite as simple. So what do these two factors have in common?
Having a sense of purpose and a highlight to work toward are both mentalities that the right job can provide. That means that once you’ve solidified a good occupation, 50 percent of the “satisfaction recipe” could be fulfilled. This, in turn, will equate to a better quality of life, as happy workers are good workers and good workers will work harder for any given company. Hard work means more revenue.
Friends/Community + Meaning + Goals – Materialism = Happiness
As simple as this formula seems, we could all use a bit of simplicity in between the rush hour traffic and lunch lines that define our lives. So perhaps before writing off these basic facets we should all re-examine what we want.
After all, no goal looks too daunting when you’re trudging through that snow; you have to get through it anyway.
Having friends at work can make the job more enjoyable and less stressful. Having a work buddy can help reduce stress by providing someone to talk to and socialize with during the day. It can also make work more enjoyable by providing someone to share experiences with and make the day go by faster. Additionally, having friends at work can help you feel more connected to your job and make you more likely to stay with the company.
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