Do you know anyone who has to numb themselves with excessive television, alcohol or other self-medicating vices when they return from work?  Chances are, the person is neglecting to build meaning into their work or into their life in general.

We’ve spent a great deal of time discussing the research around “happiness,” and if you’ve been following along, you’re aware that happiness and work are intimately tied in several ways.

Some recent research by Marshall Goldsmith‘s group sheds even more light on this fascinating topic.  His group surveyed over 3,000 well-educated (more than 60% have graduate degrees) managers, entrepreneurs, and professionals (split almost evenly between the sexes).  Their findings are worth a look, and offer insight into whether you will likely experience happiness or languish in your future.

“There is an incredibly high correlation between people’s happiness and meaning at work and at home.  In other words, those who experience happiness and meaning at work tend also to experience them outside of work. Those who are miserable on the job are usually miserable at home.

The implication is unmistakable.  Since work and home are very different environments, our experience of happiness and meaning in life appears to have more to do with who we are than where we are.  Rather than blaming our jobs, our managers, and our customers—or our friends, family members, and communities—for our negative worklife experience, we might be better served by looking in the mirror.

One commonly expressed excuse for not getting more happiness and meaning out of life is: ‘I’m working too many hours.’  But our results show that the number of hours worked had no significant correlation with happiness or meaning experienced at work or at home.  So much for that excuse.”

I am especially impressed with what the researchers found regarding people who seek short-term pleasure outside of work:

“We had (mistakenly) guessed that those who spent more time outside of work in activities that produced more short-term satisfaction might score higher on overall satisfaction.  After all, we assumed, people don’t go home to find meaning; they want to relax.  We were wrong.  The correlations between happiness, meaning, and overall satisfaction at work and home were very similar.  Those who were more satisfied with life outside of work were the respondents who reported spending more time on activities that produced both happiness and meaning.”

I’m not sure if Marshall is familiar with Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, who has found all of the above and below to be true, but their findings clearly mesh.  The below advice from Goldsmith can help you set some sound New Years resolutions:

“These links between how we spend our time and how we feel may seem confusing, but specific patterns arose—some commonsensical, some not.  Here are a few quick takeaways from our initial research:

• Reduce TV watching.  It’s stimulating but doesn’t increase overall satisfaction with life—at work or home.
• Cut back on surfing the Web for non-professional reasons.  It’s negatively correlated with the experience of both happiness and meaning.
• Spend time exercising and with people you love (respondents who did this had more satisfaction with life at work and at home).
• Feeling challenged is linked to greater satisfaction, so challenge yourself.

What can companies do differently?  They might stop asking, ‘What can the company do to increase employees’ experience of happiness and meaning at work?’ which encourages dependency.  Instead, managers can encourage employees to ask themselves, ‘What can I do to increase my experience of happiness and meaning at work?’  This strategy may produce a higher return in employee commitment—and do so at a lower cost.”

It’s quite satisfying to see so much attention directed toward this misunderstood subject of happiness.  Especially when we learn that those who are focused on building meaning at home and at work will not only achieve it, but as I’ve mentioned in past articles…can “infect” others.  ‘Tis the Season!

Editor’s Note:  This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn.  Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you’re an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the “comments” link below.