“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”

Meaning, Pleasure and Strengths- MPS

·         Finding the right job- with three questions: MPS:

·         What gives me meaning? What gives me pleasure? What are my strengths

·         Looking at the areas of overlap helps find the work that makes us happiest

·         Managers can hire the best people using MPS

·         We may need to think of the moments when we felt true purpose

·         Studies have been made on hospital cleaners:

·         One group saw their job as just a job

·         Another group perceived it as meaningful- they engaged in interactions with patients

·         How we perceive the work can be more important than the work itself

·         Those who perceive their work as meaningful are happier than those who don’t

·         These findings have been tested among hairdressers, technicians and other fields

·         We need to realize that the possibility exists- happiness is not contingent only on

·         Where we are, what we do-but on how we choose to perceive it

Ralph Emerson:

·         “To different minds, the same world is heaven or hell”

·         What we choose to focus on, determines if we enjoy what we do

·         A change in perception can make a tremendous difference

·         We can find pleasure by focusing on it

Hamlet:

·         “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”

·         Instead of focusing on what we can live with, we should focus on what we can’t live without

Exercises – The Three Questions Process

1.       What gives me meaning? What provides me with a sense of purpose?

2.       What gives me pleasure? What do I enjoy doing?

3.       What are my strengths? What am I good at?

 

·         Identify what you want your life to look like

·         Describe what you do and ask:

o   Can you change your routine; incorporate more of what is meaningful?

o   Ask what potential meaning there is in what you already do