The Secrets to Happiness at Work by Tracy Brower

Author:Tracy Brower
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2021-02-17T00:00:00+00:00

5

Choosing Growth

A growth mindset and an emphasis on learning contribute to joy. Saying yes, learning from failure, and embracing stress can also be strong contributors to a joyful life.

Saying Yes

In the work-­life discussion, we spend a lot of time talking about having appropriate boundaries and how to say no. However, you may want to delicately decline less often and just say yes more of the time, because yes is the fastest route to developing your talents, growing your career, and cultivating joy.

Of course, boundaries are important, and you have to be able to appropriately disengage and set limits on your work (more on that in a later chapter). But you don’t want to inadvertently set limits on yourself by taking a too-­stringent approach to new opportunities.

When you stretch, you tend to be more stimulated and satisfied in your work. When you can do a job without thinking about it, things can become too routine, and you risk burnout. In fact, a challenge and the unknown (“How should I handle this situation?”) can be very motivating. In addition, saying yes increases the likelihood that you can fully contribute your gifts and skills and find meaning in your work.

Saying yes is all about trust.

Trust yourself. You should always be learning, developing, and nurturing your talents. When new opportunities come up or you’re invited to take on that new project, trust yourself and your skills. Know your limitations so you don’t say yes to the wrong things. But also trust your capabilities and the work you’ve done to prepare for the next chapter.

Trust others. When you’re offered the opportunity to take on more responsibility, trust the people who have assessed you so positively. Sometimes, we can be our own harshest critics, and it can be helpful to be more gentle. See yourself through the optimistic lens others have on you. When you say yes to a stretch opportunity, ask what it is the person has seen in you, and ask for support as you take on that next role. Trust others are seeing legitimate talent within you and will help you be successful.

Trust the timing. You can’t always know whether the timing for a new opportunity is perfectly right, because life always includes a lot of other variables. If you take that promotion, how will it affect your availability for your relationships with partners or friends? How might it impact the energy you have for your family or hobbies? My advice: give it a try. When you do new things, you’ll have to invest time and effort, but you’ll also find that overall, you’re more energized by the challenge and therefore actually have more time and capacity to give for the other important parts of your life.

So which opportunities will be the most fruitful when you’re saying yes?

Give your enthusiastic thumbs-­up to opportunities that allow you to build on existing skills. The ideal situ­ation lets you apply what you already know—­and has elements of easy success—­while also stretching you into new areas. Moving from HR to finance if you’ve never seen a spreadsheet may not be very wise.

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