Lessons on how to be happier at work

Two things that haven’t always gone hand in hand for the past couple generations? Happiness and work. The post-9/11 recession generation — namely millennials — have struggled to find steady work and they seek work that’s meaningful. Millennials want to be happy at work. Is that so wrong?

Stereotyped as “job hoppers,” millennials have been called the happiest generation of professionals in the workforce, with only eight percent considering themselves unhappy on the job. Meanwhile, older generations are increasingly unhappy at work, with Generation X at 16 percent and baby boomers at 17 percent.

Does your career path reflect where you want to be in life and who you are? Are you a job-hopper who needs a shift in perspective? While hanging posters of cats with motivational sayings in your workspace helps, what you need is an old-fashioned talking-to. You need to hear the right words to energize your professional spirit with important lessons on happiness at work.

These five top-rated speakers have those words for you.

1. Dan Ariely: What Makes Us Feel Good About Our Work?

In this TED Talk, behavioral economist Dan Ariely speaks about experiments revealing the nuanced and unexpected attitudes people have regarding meaning in their professional lives. It’s not only money or joy that motivates people to work — most people thrive by “making constant progress and feeling a sense of purpose.”

Ariely says most individuals think of people at work like “rats in a maze” caring only about money, and once money is given to someone, they’ll work one way and move on to the next task. That’s a misconception. He discusses experiments surrounding the sisyphic condition — based on the Sisyphus myth — in which participants built LEGO models for increasingly less money.

Additional experiments revealed that ignoring someone’s performance is like destroying their effort right there in front of them. It only takes a little acknowledgment to boost motivation and establish meaning for someone at work.

2. Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret To Better Work

When you’re not happy at work, your work ethic and productivity can falter. Psychologist Shawn Achor shares an inspirational childhood story about how his and his sister’s G.I. Joe soldiers and My Little Ponies were ready to lead a cavalry charge when, all of a sudden, she fell off the bunk bed.

Her brain devoted resources to feeling her suffering, but her brother’s imagination saved the day by redefining the situation and its pain. Achor called his little sister a unicorn because she did the amazing thing of falling on all fours. Pointing out this unique ability empowered her and she was back at the charge…

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