Love What You Do and
You Will Be Successful
“Success isn’t the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you’re doing, you’ll be successful.” – Albert Schweitzer
Success can be measured in many different ways. For some, it means wealth: being able to afford a luxurious home, expensive cars, and extravagant vacations. For others, it means a work-life balance that enables them to spend more time with friends and family or giving back to their community. Ultimately, how you define success doesn’t matter; your end goal is always something worth striving for.
Many people believe, however, that success, in whatever form, will make them happy. Similar to the chicken-and-the-egg argument, there has been much debate over which comes first: success or happiness. Does being successful ensure happiness, or does happiness ensure success? It turns out that Albert Schweitzer was correct: studies show that people with positive emotions, such as excitement or joy, are more successful in their work lives. In other words, love what you do, and you will be successful.
The Secret of Success
It turns out that the secret of success is happiness. Research into positive psychology proves that happiness is both a key driver and a precursor of success. In other words, happy people are more likely to succeed.
In fact, there are even physical reasons for this. Have you ever wondered why you achieved better grades in subjects that you enjoyed? That’s because positive emotions, such as enjoying what you are doing, trigger a release of serotonin and dopamine. These significantly enhance motivation, memory, problem-solving, and mental focus.
Furthermore, loving what you do also increases the activity of the hippocampus, the part of the brain involved in memory and learning. Love what you do, and your brain will actually work better!
The Secret of Your Success
It has been determined that if you love what you do, you will be successful. But what exactly does that look like? Success, whatever it may be to you, can be defined as the “positive consequence or outcome of an achieved accomplishment.”
You need to determine what is important to you and then focus on how you will achieve it. But how do you determine what these accomplishments will be? Use these 4 steps to set attainable goals that will ensure your happiness and success:
- Start by making your goals meaningful. Success is different for everyone; make your goals mean something to you.
- Next, write them down. Committing an idea to paper makes it more concrete; simply thinking about what you wish to achieve does not work.
- Be specific in what you want to achieve.
- Finally, create a plan for how you will achieve your goals. Again, be specific in the details of your plan.
By creating goals in such an “active” way, you increase the chance of achieving them. Love what you do and know what you are working towards.
The Path to Success
Perhaps the path to your success is working for yourself. And why not? After all, self-employed people are happier. “It is so much more satisfying if you know you’re building something for yourself.” In fact, choosing self-employment can not only make you happier but can also be another precursor of success. Why?
- Self-employment provides more freedom and control. Having the ability to decide where and how you work makes people happy. In fact, “being able to create the right workspace for your own productivity is key to happiness.”
- Engagement is another marker for workplace happiness; the more engaged you are, the happier you are. People who are self-employed are more psychologically invested in what they are doing. “Being engaged in their jobs makes people feel energized and pleased with their own contribution.”
- Self-employed workers have more opportunities to innovate and express their own views. Being able to speak your mind and have influence over your own role increases happiness and subsequently, success.
The Secrets of Happiness and Success
Being self-employed can pave the way to a much happier work-life. It can provide opportunities for engagement and autonomy not realized in a regular employment situation. Your happiness at work is essential; not just for a better work-life balance and an increase in your earning potential but for your success. In order to realize happiness in your career, love what you do and incorporate these specific core factors.
- In order for you to be happy, you must have control over your own decisions and objectives. These can even be on a day-to-day basis, such as where and when you work.
- To be happy as self-employed, you require the appropriate resources to carry out the job, whatever it may be. For instance, if your passion is to become a Home Stager, Ultimate Academy® provides the perfect resources: the training, knowledge, and certification to become a Professional Home Stager.
- Being self-employed does not mean that you forge a path alone. You will be much happier in your career if you have people you can lean on for guidance, encouragement, and assistance. Again, Ultimate Academy® provides a built-in support system for their students. When there are questions or issues, graduates can leverage support from the Ultimate Academy® team, as well as from the Alumni group. The ability to “Stay Connected and Stay Inspired” is invaluable to your happiness and ultimately,
