No. 1 Career Move That Will Make You Happier

Oftentimes I hear people complaining about their jobs. There is always something to gripe about, be it colleagues, bosses, a toxic environment, an overwhelming workload, etc., etc.

I came across this article the other day, which I agree with and I believe it will help some of these people:

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/26/this-author-interviewed-100-workers-the-no-1-career-move-that-made-them-happier.html

The people who were happiest in their careers, he discovered, shared the same approach to work: They all had a strong sense of who they were when they were off the clock.

In other words, you need to have multiple identities and you cannot lose your entire sense of self to your job. 

Some may associate this with work-life balance, but I feel it is deeper than that. Who is to say being a parent is not work? It is in fact very tiring work with heavy responsibilities. You are responsible for somebody's life!

Coincidentally, the Straits Times published this article within the next few days:

https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/actress-janice-koh-s-tongue-cancer-battle-led-to-the-surgical-removal-of-more-than-half-her-tongue

“My husband had said something to me very early on in this journey, when I was wondering if I could ever act again,” she said. “He said: ‘We have so many other mountains to climb. Why do we feel the need to keep going back to this one mountain?’”

This reiterates the same point as the first article, does it not? There are always mountains to climb, your (day) job is not the only mountain. Even if you failed this mountain, you can always try for another. 

Later on in the same article, there was a paragraph that shares a common point that I saw in many other articles about a person encountering near-death experiences:

Koh, who has been performing for over 30 years, feels like she is making up for lost time as she has always felt like she did not have enough time with her sons, missing birthday dinners and important family occasions.

Speaking of her present lifestyle, she said: “I’m home when the kids come back from school. I have time to drive them to places they need to go. We sit down for dinner together and talk about how their days went. This time to be present with my family is a real luxury. Even if it is under these circumstances, it is a gift.”

It is sad that a person has to encounter a near-death experience before he/she realizes what is truly important in his/her life, no?