As a recruiter, the term “work-life balance” comes up a lot.
Recently, however, there has been a shift in what defines this balance between work and personal life. It takes more than having the time to work out at the end of the day, or having the time with your family. These days, employees are taking it one step further to achieve a harmony between their career and personal life in an effort to improve their overall happiness.
However, happiness is more than just a feeling, and it is actually rooted in how you view the world. Similarly, satisfaction is more than just feeling content. It stems from how you view your job and your future. Both are powerful components that affect your well-being as a whole but they are often treated separately. If you think about it, you can’t truly be happy if you are not satisfied in your career – and if you have a negative approach to life it will probably affect your approach to your work.
So how can you find that balance? It starts with your attitude.
Think about the attitude you have when you walk into work. . . Are you excited for the day ahead, or are you counting down the hours until lunch? Well did you know that having a more positive outlook on the day ahead when you walk through the door will result in higher levels of creativity, energy, and productivity?
There is a whole realm of psychology known as Positive Psychology that studies the growth potential of humans and how much influence a little bit of enthusiasm carries. Some of the research suggests:
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- Only 25 percent of job success is predicted by IQ.
The other 75 percent is predicted by optimism levels, social support, and the ability to see stress as a challenge rather than as a threat. - 10 percent of happiness can be predicted by the external world.
The other 90 percent of your long-term happiness is determined internally and by how your brain processes information. - Dopamine, the brain chemical released as a reward to yourself in response to pleasing stimuli, makes you happier AND activates all the learning centers within your brain.
- Only 25 percent of job success is predicted by IQ.
If happiness stimulates better productivity, resilience, and energy, in turn, you will find job security, as well as improved performance in job-specific tasks. It sounds crazy, but even in my job with TwentyPine, I found myself holding more productive conversations with candidates and feeling more confident throughout the workday when I walk in happy and ready to work.
A few months ago our team watched Shawn Achor in his Ted Talk, “The Happy Secret to Better Work” (10/10 would recommend).
He related humans’ persistent dissatisfaction to his former classmates at Harvard, who quickly shifted their focus from the thrill and honor of being admitted to such a prestigious university to new stressors, such as the competitive atmosphere. We do this every day in similar ways, by delaying gratification and establishing loftier goals every time we set the ones we previously set.
Achor pointed out that we never take the time to appreciate and enjoy the table set in front of us.
So myself, along with the rest of TwentyPine have all made a conscious effort to be optimistic towards the challenges we face in our role, and be grateful for all aspects of our lives so we can be more positive each day.
“It isn’t necessarily the reality that shapes us but the lens that your brain views the world through. If we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, we can change every single business and educational outcome at the same time.”
– Shawn Achor
In the beginning, there were times when I felt like I had to trick myself into being in a good mood, but over time it became much easier. I really noticed a difference when challenges arose during the day and I was able to brush them off when normally they would have disrupted my productivity.
Having experienced the improvements myself, and seen the effects it had on us at TwentyPine, I wanted to propose a challenge to others. So, TwentyPine is challenging you to rethink your schedule, re-prioritize your life, and help you attain that work/life harmony for the next three weeks.
If you’re willing to accept this challenge, share this post on LinkedIn with the hashtag #TwentyPineTwentyDays, explain what you are hoping to achieve by the end of the 20 days, and nominate a connection to do the same.
We’ll be checking back to see how you did and how you feel as a result, but be sure to share your progress and inspire others!
“By training our brains like how we train our bodies, we can not only create ripples of positivity but create a real revolution.”
Here are some of the things our team did to reshape our outlook:
- Chipper – an app to track something you are grateful for each day, that sends you reminders of what you wrote.
- Journaling- Writing about one different positive experience every day.
- Exercise- Teaching your brain that your behavior matters…
- Mediation- Allowing your brain to focus on one task for a given amount of time and escape
- Random acts of kindness- Write one positive email praising someone in your social support system every day.