There’s been quite a bit of navel gazing in the US recently (they do navel gazing well there) about happiness at work. A recent survey shows that 45% of Americans are unhappy at work. Maybe that’s why they’re so fat. Joking aside, being happy and fulfilled at work is seriously important, given the amount of time we spend at work in our lives. I find it hard to imagine that anyone who works and is unhappy at work will be generally happy with their lives. This applies in particular to us men who tend to define themselves more by their careers than the fairer sex do.  I know I’m standing on lots of toes here.

Someone coming home from work in an unhappy state (bad boss, lack of autonomy, boring work, repetition, not learning anything, not being challenged etc) will normally find it difficult to switch over into the jolly and bright person they’d like to be.

What the US survey should have asked is the percentage of people that would choose the same career if they were to start all over again. My guess is that the answer would be about 50%. A poor fit between who you are and the career you choose has got to be the strongest cause of unhappiness at work.

So, we have got to get better at choosing our careers. Falling into it, doing what dad or mum does as defaults etc are not good ways of starting off and starting off badly is often difficult to fix.  Once the mortgage, partner and kid number 1 arrives, change becomes less of an option. Choosing a career is one of life’s most important decisions. You need all the help you can get.   If  you want help, check out some innovative solutions