Another year has started…do you feel as if you are still stuck on a treadmill?
On the one hand, our life goals are pretty simple: to survive, get a decent
job with some stability and security, develop loving relationships–even raise a
family–pursue some enjoyable activities, and do it all with a certain amount of
comfort and dignity.
On the other hand, to achieve these simple goals, we must subject ourselves
to a range of social controls, such as work, which requires us to behave in
certain ways and respond predictably to a prescribed system of rewards and
punishments. For example, if we adhere to a lifetime of work, save money,
follow the rules, then we will be rewarded with a pension and security in our
old age.
But, at the same time, we are constantly harangued by advertisers to spend
our earnings on products that will produce the most profits for merchants, not
to mention the whole system of legal and illegal pleasures run by gamblers,
drug dealers, and sex trade entrepreneurs.
The good and bad of social controls
Some social critics insist that this treadmill of modern life molds us into
“helpless” consumers who are socialized to respond predictably to what feels
good and what feels bad so that others can exploit our preferences for their
own ends.
And, let’s face it, most of us find it is easy to accept this system of
social controls—after all, what kind of world would it be without them?
Furthermore, staying on the treadmill has some advantages, otherwise we’d
jump off in a flash. There is genuine pleasure in the competitive struggle
for “success”—winning is fun! Without any viable alternatives, most of us
resort to striving even harder to pursue the “good life” with more ‘goods’ like
a bigger house, new car, more toys, more power on the job, a more glamorous
lifestyle and so on. Happiness is about feeling good, and acquiring the
tokens of success makes us feel good. But studies clearly show that such
happiness is fleeting, temporary, shallow at best…so we respond by striving for
even more!
And yet, while this striving helps us avoid the question, “Is that all there
is?”, the consequences for doing so are proving to be increasingly negative for
both individuals and societyl. For example, the city of Ottawa, where I
live, is the capital of a G-8 country, and has the highest rate of per capital
income in the nation, but it has also been diagnosed as the “depression capital
of Canada,” by the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and
Mental Health.
Disability claims for mental health by federal public servants spiked to an
all-time high in the past 3 years (even though workers on the public payroll
enjoy excellent wages and benefits and have little to worry about in terms of
surviving). Depression and mental health issues are now the #1 workplace
disability in North America costing our economy billions of dollars in lost
productivity. In addition, there has been a dramatic increase in social
pathologies over the last generation, including more organized crime, family
breakdowns, ecological degradation, a widening gap between the rich and the
rest, and so on.
What is the remedy?
How do we, as individuals, get off the treadmill, cast off these social
controls that inhibit our freedom, and find meaning and purpose in life?
These are big questions…but studies show that trying to answer them does, in
itself, seem to help solve the problem.
While a happy and meaningful life overlaps in certain ways, they are also
very different. Money is clearly a factor in happiness because it can
reduce stress and worry about surviving and enhances our opportunities for
“feeling good.” We can more easily “take” from life what we
need. If anything, pure happiness seems to be linked to not
helping others in need, according to recent research.
What separates human beings from other species is not “feeling good” but the
pursuit of meaning, which is unique to humans. Psychologists have
discovered what many world religions have taught for centuries—humans derive
meaning from giving a part of themselves away to others and making a sacrifice
on behalf of their community. Any parent knows this because having
children is associated with a meaningful life and requires self-sacrifice, but
research shows that parents often exhibit low levels of happiness because
having kids is worrisome and stressful!
Some studies indicate that another remedy to overcoming helplessness and
meaningless-mess is to gain control over our consciousness or, more
specifically, the content of our experience. Instead of submitting
to the treadmill of social expectations and rewards, each of us can decide what
is important to us and act accordingly. But, after decades of developing
habits and desires that serve those social controls, it is not easy to (1) know
what to do, or (2) actually do it.
You are not trapped in your job or career.
Having meaning and money are not mutually exclusive. You can learn how
to combine the two, and you can take efficient and effective actions to do so.
You can change your job or career. Research clearly shows that
having purpose and meaning in life increases overall well-being and life
satisfaction.
At Job Joy, we are committed to helping our clients connect their work to a
clearly-defined purpose that harmonizes with what is meaningful for them, and
still make money, as demonstrated in this free how-to webinar.
If you feel stuck on a treadmill, or suspect that your life is being
controlled by external forces that don’t have your best interests at heart, and
then maybe this is the year that you determine to do something about it.
You can start, I suggest, by focusing (with our help if you like) on what
really matters to you, by thinking about what you really want from life…then
taking a few simple effective actions to move towards it. This gives you
traction for a meaningful life.More information visit www.jobjoy.com
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