Finding moments of fulfillment and reasons to be grateful every day shows that we… (+) are on the right path for us.
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When thinking about how to improve your career, few people put pen to paper and say, “I want to live in the moment.” Instead, we typically focus our attention on achieving big goals or pursuing life-changing opportunities.
Just as important as where we go is how we get there. If you want to get greater satisfaction from your job, it is important that your current job is fulfilling.
Of course, making a living is never just sunshine and roses. There’s a reason they call it work. But being able to find moments of fulfillment and reasons to be grateful every day shows that we’re on the right path for ourselves.
Without realizing it, we may already be experiencing such moments a dozen times each day, but we may be overlooking their potential impact. The secret to finding greater meaning is to take time to stop, reflect, and recognize the daily victories. Poet Mary Oliver wrote, “Instructions for living life: Pay attention. Be surprised. Talk about it.” By following this advice, you’ll ultimately find that your greater goal is a path to happiness and meaning. You may no longer think of it as the only way.
If satisfaction only comes from big accomplishments like promotions, raises, and bonuses, our intrinsic reward system may only be effective a few times a year. But if small moments bring us richness and joy, we are rewarding ourselves every day.
Therefore, learning new skills, actively interacting with customers, and making wise comments in meetings can all be reasons to be satisfied with our progress. A study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that being aware of such small accomplishments can make a big contribution to overall life satisfaction. Another study published in the journal Psychological Science found that people who recognized their successes daily reported higher levels of happiness.
Oprah Winfrey is an advocate of living in the moment. She writes: Many times a day, I look around me in awe, wondering how someone like me got here. Every day I strengthen and expand the material goodness and blessings I have received by connecting with the deeper being within all living things. ”
When you’re aware of what’s going on around you, Winfrey says: You begin to understand that you are not what you think. No matter what situation you find yourself in, you know that you will be okay. ”
Research shows this is not emotional advice. Focusing on the present moment can bring tangible results to our health and overall success. Recognizing small wins has been shown to promote mindfulness, which helps fight negative thought patterns by staying more focused on the present. Additionally, daily gratitude has been shown to release the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, which can improve mood and reduce stress. Recognizing small wins also creates a positive feedback loop, fostering a growth mindset and increasing confidence in your abilities.
Finally, there are long-term rewards as well. In our book on leadership and culture, All In, co-author Chester Elton and I wrote: They give you energy and momentum to achieve bigger goals. ”Our happiness is not solely based on achieving big things in life, but being grateful for small successes inevitably increases our overall motivation and motivates us to achieve even greater things in the future. It can encourage us towards accomplishments. That’s not a bad thing.
