We have all been taught that if we toil, apply ourselves, and put our noses to the grindstone that we can attain success which leads to happiness. Contentment, we are told, must be preceded by success, which in turn must be preceded by hard work that is often associated with not being happy. This cause-and-effect paradigm is an American truism harkening back to our earliest past. And it continues to find widespread expression, particularly with a bullying management style that implores workers to row harder.
But could it be possible that the success/happiness formula should be viewed in reverse? Rather, happiness begets success. There is a researcher and writer named Shawn Achor who postulates in his book The Happiness Advantage that conventional thinking has this cause-and-effect sequence wrong. He is instead promoting the notion that happiness forms the groundwork for success to occur. Achieving a grand objective like finding deep satisfaction from one’s work can best be reached by approaching your job from a positive place to begin with. Having a more enlightened outlook and energized perspective is preparatory to meeting your goals.
The brain may be better suited toward intelligence and innovation when the emotional state is uplifted. Possible routes to greater success become apparent with a more resilient and stress-free mind. If we consider for a moment that Achor has this right, then it begs the question of how we are all so off track. We as a culture seem to have accepted the belief that negativity, in the form of unpleasant exertion, sets the stage for a better life to come.
I think of the mythic entrepreneur who works day and night to launch and grow a business and then retires many years down the road, living with the gratification of a job well done. Working “day and night” sounds unpleasant, doesn’t it? But for the truly successful it may not be. The difference between finding success and just getting a job done may come from the level of positive thinking present in the individual.
The problem with thinking of success in a traditional sense is that it is so elusive. When we successfully reach a work quota, then management sets a higher goal. If we increased revenues by 18% this month, then we need to hit 22% next month. The goal post is always being placed just a little further away, the bar is raised just a little higher to meet success. Attainment becomes fleeting, a temporary waystation on the road to something bigger and better. This set of circumstances has really become the norm in these post-recession days of workplaces always trying to do more with less.
Perhaps our competitive nature has us on edge in ways that detract from the preconditions necessary to approach our objectives. When work becomes a slog, our positivity slips away and the “success” we achieve may be of a lower quality than is otherwise possible. Maybe it is time to think that having a more positive attitude makes us more productive.
If an elevated level of positivity leads to a more productive and higher quality success, then how do we get to this starting place? Reframing your perspective may be the place to begin. Note the good stuff around you, appreciate what is right, favorable, and agreeable in your daily life and in the work you do. Being kind to others whenever will raise your mood and influence your behavior. Take the time to be healthy and make lifestyle choices that are potent for your mind and body. As counterintuitive as it may sound, you may have to work at being positive. If we over-focus on the negative aspects of our work or feel happiness is to be delayed until success is found, then we may never really get there.
Happiness need not be a dreamy far away goal. Instead, it may be a state of mind that we continually build upon no matter where we are in the success cycle.
