How To Find More Joy In Your Work

Two powerful tools you can use every day

The answer to this question is easy – you can´t. Joy isn´t something you can find or something that someone else can provide. Joy is something you have to be. So, let us talk about how to “be” more joy in your work.

 

Happiness is a choice, being joyful is a choice, and having more joy at work is something you need to choose. Does this sound too simple?
 
In our daily life, we are constantly exposed to situations we cannot control, handle or even influence. The easiest way is always that “the others” change or do things differently. The bad news is: you cannot change others, you can only change your own point of view. Let me share two efficient and powerful tools you can use every day to start with.

Anger, frustration, disappointment, and unhappiness have one source in common: your point of view. If everything that happens to you during the day was just an interesting point of view – would you be angry or unhappy? If everything someone else tells you, was just a piece of neutral information - Would you be disappointed? The way you receive the information and the judgment you add to it defines your state of being. It is your choice in which drawer you put it. I prefer putting it all into the “neutral” one, the “interesting point of view” drawer.
 
This is why happiness is a choice; you can decide how to handle all these situations. You decide the charge you put on every comment someone else makes. You are in charge of your life.
 
An easy way to start practicing this tool is the “interesting point of view – toll”: Since you cannot change the way others interact with you, you can only start with you. Whenever someone says or does something, that would normally offend you or make you feel angry or sad, say “interesting point of view that this person has this point of view” to yourself. Going into the state of “interesting point of view” immediately neutralizes emotions and allows you to deal with the situation in a professional way rather than reacting to an attack.

Another great tool to experience more joy in your work is taking out the significance of everything that “happens”. First of all, nothing is as significant and important as it seems to be at first sight. Secondly, there is always a solution, no matter how complicated a situation may appear.
 
An ideal tool to have more ease with critical or difficult situations is asking “open” questions. Instead of analyzing the “why” or looking for the “culpable”, move on and find a solution. An open question is a question with no answer, a question where you do not look for a specific answer or solution to a specific problem. And that’s the essential part when you resolve a problem: Do not look for the answer. Looking for an answer is always a limitation as you exclude those possibilities you have not even considered. In open question, on the other hand, is activation of your creativity and curiosity. “What else is possible here?”, or “What would it take to change this situation with ease?” are my favorite examples. The more general an open question is formulated, the better it works. It allows you to expand and invite different points of view and new ideas to be added. This tool is most effective when you are working in a team. It opens doors to new possibilities you have not considered yet and allows everyone involved to add creativity into the project.  
 
Applying these tools to your business or work will make you independent of the actions and behavior of others and allow you to develop a state of being that always includes joy and happiness. You will also develop a different approach to dealing with problems and difficult situations, an approach that focuses on solutions. A powerful combination that will not only bring more joy to your work, it will also increase your business.