How does your job affect your life?

Perhaps you are trying too hard, to be the fun character. Corporations are not looking for fun and nice, most times they are looking for advancement. What is going to make them grow. And, what is going to make them money. Anything beneath that is usually not in their best interests.

I understand feeling like you are not the person that they want on the job. I have some real issues with work right now and I am looking to get into a new job. I don't like my hours, my work, or one of my bosses. I hate going to work and I feel under appreciated when I am there.

One of my favorite topics is the science of happiness, which academia calls positive psychology. I love this topic because most of us think of our careers in terms of happiness. That is, we look for work that makes us happy. Positive psychology turns this hunt into a science. And then tells us to look elsewhere for happiness. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to focus on optimism and relationships so that we don't feel so much pressure choosing our jobs. To this end, I was excited to see three different introductions to the psychology of happiness in the last month. This is not small stuff, but it's the stuff that is scientifically proven to lead to a happy life. So when you think about what job to take, realize that this list of things that affect your sense of well-being is not overwhelmingly connected to the idea of doing what you love at work.